BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 28, 2022– At the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government, a number of critical issues will be discussed, including the advancement of the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market & Economy (CSME), which is currently seen as the most practical means of achieving economic recovery throughout the Caribbean. CSME seeks to build a more resilient Caribbean Community through the integration of the small CARICOM economies by removing trade and professional restrictions among member states. It focuses on the free movement of goods, people, technology, and capital across the region.
“There is significant impetus for the CSME at this time because of the impact of the COVID pandemic, so we will be looking forward to advancing some of those ideas,” said CARICOM Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett during a press conference with media representatives from across the Caribbean this Monday.
During the press conference, the Secretary-General said that the key areas of implementation of CSME will be discussed at the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting, and she noted that a protocol for the enhanced cooperation of Member States is set to be tabled. This protocol will allow Member States who wish to move forward on a particular aspect of CSME to do so, while those who do not wish to can join at a later time or whenever they are able to.
“One of the important things that will be on the table at this meeting is a protocol on the enhanced cooperation among Member States that will allow some groups of Member States to work together closely so that we do not remain bound by the current understanding that we all have to agree to every single step before we make a single step—because that is one of the issues that keeps back movement in the Community,” said the Secretary-General.
“And so, this protocol would allow that kind of forward movement, so that, I think, is probably the most important thing that will be addressed at this meeting,” she added.
According to Dr. Barnett, the Prime Minister of Barbados Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, who is leading the implementation of CSME, has been meeting with CARICOM Secretariat staff to work through what needs to be done to accelerate implementation. The Secretary-General further noted that the enhanced cooperation of Member States is a critical aspect of CSME and expressed her hopes that it will ensure faster advancement. When asked how confident she is about whether CSME will be implemented across the entire region, especially considering that some Caribbean territories have not embraced certain parts of the treaty, Dr. Barnett noted that, like all other integration processes, the implementation of CSME will have its ups and downs.
“Let me tell you, no integration process is perfect. And the reason why we have a structure for raising issues that may be counter to the treaty is because we expect as we roll out the integration process that there will be a need for dispute settlement, there will be a need for judgments to be made if somebody is violating any of the fundamental principles. This is normal as we build up the process, and it’s important for us to understand that it is normal. That is why when there are issues that arise we have a process for going to the court when one country calls out the other.”
According to the Secretary-General, the fact that CARICOM has negotiated a protocol that is set to be discussed is a significant development, which has led her to be optimistic about the future of CSME.
“We’ve reached the point where we’ve actually negotiated a protocol that’s going to be discussed. And we will see if there are other things that need to be done as the legal draftspersons would say ‘to perfect it’. But it is at the stage where we have a draft protocol for consideration—we’ve not had that before, so for me that we’ve managed to reach this stage is for me a good thing,” she said.