Former Caribbean diplomat, Sir Ronald Sanders, who has written extensively on the pending Economic Partnership Agreement has disagreed with the Caricom chairman’s position that the trade treaty can be re-negotiated after signing.
In a feature piece written by journalist Peter Richards concerning the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the Caricom Chairman, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, was quoted as saying, “We are not just sitting back and saying well listen, come 2 Sept., we just have to sign come what may. What we are saying (is that) we are making certain manoeuvres in the meantime to see what can be done to create an environment in which we know, that even if we sign in September, we have an opportunity to revisit, readjust certain situations that are of concern to us.”
Spencer appeared in his statement, to be alluding to an idea that certain parts of the EPA, which are declared as disagreeable, could be debated even after signing.
According to Sir Ron, that is a dangerous claim.
Sir Ron, speaking to the Antigua Sun on the issue said, “Why would the EU want to change its agreement? If you sign an agreement, I will hold you to it, that’s the whole point of signing an agreement… I don’t sign an agreement with the intention of changing it.”
Furthermore, Sir Ron noted that in order to make changes to the agreement, the European Commission (EC) would have to return to the European Council of Ministers in all 27 of the European Countries that make up the EU, an endeavour that might not be worth the trouble.
When asked if he was aware of any exceptions or allowances the European Commission had made to the CARIFORUM, Sanders said, “Absolutely not, I don’t know that the European Commission has made any such option available.”
The EPA in question is between the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) and the European Union (EU). The EPA was created to form a Free Trade Area (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
Under the EPA, trade would occur in a non-discriminatory nature with open reciprocity. This would involve the removal, in phases, of all trade preferences previously established between ACP countries, of which Antigua and Barbuda is one, and the EU.