Caribbean unable to penetrate European markets – former CARICOM economic advisor

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 September 2024, 22:53 by Denis Chabrol

Former Special Economic Advisor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Maurice Odle on Wednesday lamented the failure of Caribbean nations to take advantage of the 2008 European Union-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in order to tap into European markets.

Speaking at the launch of his autobiography titled “An Eventful Life”, he said it is very hard for Caribbean services to penetrate the European Union market. “That is still providing a lot of difficulty for the Caribbean, partly because we do not have capacity to penetrate those markets. Our strength really lies in the services sector and there is a lot of difficulty gaining access to the European market,” he told a small but impressive gathering of attendees at Moray House. 

In his 283-page book, Dr Odle says despite certain waivers and concessions to CARIFORUM investors and suppliers, the EPA was not sufficiently non-reciprocal.

He says there was not a level playing field, given the wide disparities in capacities between CARIFORUM and EU partners. Dr Odle also says it was not in the region’s best interest to have negotiated separately. “Besides allowing itself to be forced to enter EU negotiations jointly with the Dominican Republic (with which it hitherto had very little contact), the strategy of the Caribbean entering separate negotiations with the EU, rather than jointly with its long-standing Africa and Pacific partners of the ACP grouping, probably made for reduced bargaining power,” he says in the chapter “CARICOM External Negotiations (1997-2008)”.

The UK-trained economist says his critical review of CARICOM to mark the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Chaguaramas that established the regional bloc in 1973 was still relevant, including his assessment of the EPA. “The benefits derived from the 2008 Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe have so far been very disappointing partly because of the inherently unequal/unlevel nature of the playing field,” he says.

The EPA was signed on October 15, 2008 and the first five-year review was issued on July 14, 2015. The second five-year review of the EPA is overdue.