Caribbean-EU leaders to meet on Monday
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders will meet with their European counterparts in Belgium on Monday, according to top EU officials.
Officials briefing media on the two-day EU and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit stated the discussions will cover a wide range of topics affecting the Caribbean area.
“It’s critical that we continue to work with the region as it presents itself to us,” the officials said, adding that the Bridgetown initiative, championed by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, would also be on the agenda for the EU-CELAC conference.
The Bridgetown Initiative is being likened to the Marshall Plan of 1948, in which the United States donated more than US$13 billion in foreign aid to assist Western Europe in its post-World War II recovery.
The Bridgetown Initiative in Barbados involves three essential components. The first step is to alter some of the terms governing how funding is loaned and returned. The goal is to keep developing countries from spiraling into debt as a result of successive calamities such as floods, droughts, and storms.
Second, Barbados is requesting that development banks finance an additional trillion US dollars to developing countries for climate change resilience, including discounted loans aimed at improving climate resilience in climate-vulnerable countries.
The third phase in the Bridgetown Initiative is to establish a new mechanism backed by the business sector to support climate mitigation and rehabilitation following a disaster.
The two-day EU-CELAC summit, the first in eight years, will be co-chaired by European Council President Charles Michel and Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who also serves as CELAC’s pro-tempore President.
According to the officials, the question of restitution for slavery would most likely be on the agenda.
“With a bit of diplomatic imagination, a solution that recognizes this untold suffering is not an impossible ask, and I am confident that will not be a stumbling block,” one EU official told the news briefing.
“I believe the Durban Declaration also includes language that acknowledges the fact that some stages have both apologized for their actions and paid reparations for the suffering caused.” So I believe this is one of the places where some thought is still being given to how best to capture the spirit of the wording of the Durban Declaration, which is being endorsed by all 60 member states.”
The meeting is seen as a “translation into practical actions of our political commitment to step up our sectoral cooperation with our Latin American and Caribbean partners,” according to EU officials.
They also stated that it will “leverage direct investment in various areas such as the green and digital transition, transportation, energy infrastructure, health, education, and skills, and the leaders will benefit from a discussion on our trade relationship and what we can do to further strengthen our network of trade agreements.”
They stated that “global Gateways” will be one of the summit’s achievements, with the EU tripling its financing to US$10 billion.
“More announcements will be made on Monday; member states are coming forward, while others are likely keeping their cards close to their chests.” We will be launching 108 initiatives around the region, and we have been working with individual governments to select priority locations in recent weeks and months.”
Trade deals have already been signed with 27 of the 33 CELAC member states, according to officials.
