On March 21 the European Commission published a summary of submissions on the future relationship between Europe and the 78 member African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of nations (the ACP). Their reason for doing so was because the Cotonou Convention ‒ the Treaty that links the EU mainly to its former colonies ‒ ends in 2020, and there is uncertainty in Europe about whether there should be a successor arrangement, what its nature should be, and about the future of the ACP as a group.
Judging from a table at the end of the report, one might conclude that the Caribbean, or at least its institutions and civil society, do not care much about any of these issues, as the EC received only one response from the region, and that was from Jamaica.
However, this minimal reaction should perhaps come as no surprise as the EC’s original October 2015 discussion document on the subject and request for submissions was not well publicised. Moreover, most Caribbean civil society organizations are weak in terms of capacity, and many feel marginalised by governments and regional institutions, believing that they