Latinamerika og Vestindien
EØSU har samarbejdet med sine søsterorganisationer i Latinamerika og Caribien siden 1990'erne. Udvalget har i adskillige af sine udtalelser fokuseret på forbindelserne med disse regioner både på regionalt, subregionalt og nationalt niveau. EØSU's prioriteter omfatter udvikling af civilsamfundsorganisationer, økonomisk og social udvikling, regional integration og multilateralt samarbejde.
På regionalt niveau arrangerer EØSU hvert andet år møder mellem repræsentanter for civilsamfundsorganisationerne i Europa, Latinamerika og Caribien som led i forberedelserne til topmødet mellem EU og CELAC.
På subregionalt niveau er der oprettet adskillige permanente strukturer. I 2009 lancerede EØSU i samarbejde med Brasiliens økonomiske og sociale råd en rundbordsdialog for civilsamfundet med henblik på at skabe et forum for dialog og fortsat samarbejde mellem repræsentanter for det europæiske og det brasilianske civilsamfund. Ved associeringsaftalen mellem EU og Chile fik EØSU mandat til sammen med sin chilenske modpart at nedsætte et blandet rådgivende udvalg med henblik på at følge med i gennemførelsen af aftalen. Dette udvalg blev endeligt nedsat i 2016. For så vidt angår landene i Det Andinske Fællesskab, deltager EØSU i den interne rådgivende gruppe, der overvåger frihandelsaftalen mellem EU og Colombia, Peru og Ecuador. Desuden deltager EØSU i det rådgivende udvalg Cariforum-EU, der overvåger den økonomiske partnerskabsaftale mellem EU og Cariforumlandene. Der er etableret permanente forbindelser med EØSU's institutionelle pendanter i Mercosur (det økonomiske og sociale rådgivende forum) og Centralamerika (det rådgivende udvalg for det mellemamerikanske integrationssystem).
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Ex-post evaluation of the EPA between the EU and its Member States and the CARIFORUM Member States
January 2020
Joint statement from the fifth meeting of the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee
Joint Statement from the fifth meeting of the CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee
Concept note proposal to establish a CARIFORUM-EU Centre in Europe – Joint Statement appendix
Concept note proposal to establish a CARIFORUM-EU Centre in Europe – Joint Statement appendix
The main conclusion of the paper is that the incorporation of environmental provisions within the EPAs may present some benefits to ACP countries. These include increased enforcement of environmental laws and the raising of domestic environmental standards. However, developing countries will have to seek ways to mitigate some risks and challenges associated with internal and regional coordination in negotiations, legal burdens of the negotiating process itself and the implementation of obligations as well as the establishment and maintenance of appropriate levels of environmental protection and institution building. ACP countries will need appropriate packages of technical assistance, capacity building, and environmental cooperation to meet this new environmental agenda in their trade agreements.
Environmental issues in economic partnership agreements: Implications for developing countries
In October 2008, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic, being members of the Forum of the Caribbean Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), signed the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). Haiti signed the agreement in December 2009, but has not yet applied it, as it still has to be ratified.
The first objective of Article 1 of the Agreement indicated that the EPA is expected to contribute to “the reduction and eventual eradication of poverty through the establishment of a trade partnership consistent with the objective of sustainable development, the Millennium Development Goals and the Cotonou Agreement” but also to promote regional integration, economic cooperation and good governance, and to improve CARIFORUM States' capacity in trade policy and trade-related issues.
In the context of the implementation of this EPA, the ILO Decent Work Team (DWT) for the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean based in Trinidad and Tobago put together, with the financial support of the EU, the project “Support to Facilitate Participation of CARIFORUM Civil Society in the Regional Development and Integration Process: Challenges to CARIFORUM Labour, Private Sector and Employers to Fulfil their EPA Obligations”. It targeted all CARIFORUM countries and was to be implemented between 2015 and 2018. This project is herein after referred to as the “ILO-EU Project”.
CARIFORUM Civil Society in the Regional Development and Integration Process
The Implementation of Article 232 CARIFORUM-EU Consultative Committee
At the dawn of the new millennium, the European Union (EU) wanted to change profoundly its economic and commercial relationship with the countries of the Africa-
Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) with whom she had a privileged relationship. This relationship was hitherto based for a quarter of a century on a traditional vision support to the former British and French colonies through the opening non-reciprocal nature of the European market to products originating from these countries. This arrangement was gradually considered ineffective and not in accordance with the rules of the international trade. This led the EU to favor a new approach neo-liberal inspiration, nuanced by a certain consideration of the differences in between the EU and ACP countries. It has in fact acted, through the Economic Partnership (EPA), to put in place free trade agreements between
the EU and large ACP regions, de jure demanding a strong reciprocity with openness from 2008 ACP markets to products (goods and services) originating in the EU.
Les Accords de Partenariats Economiques (APE) comme outil d'appui aux pays ACP dans leur stratégie de développement économique et commercial : le cas de l’APE CARIFORUM-UE
The OECS and IOC are two small regional integration and cooperation organizations, respectively, founded by small island ACP States to support them in their economic and social development efforts, and which have subsequently opened up to a certain degree of differentiated participation in French overseas territories in a context of evolving international and commercial relations.
In this article, we propose a comparative analysis of these two organizations and this participation, highlighting the common points, but also the important legal, political, socio-economic and financial differences.
The first part is devoted to the comparative analytical presentation of the two organizations, before going on to discuss in a second part the question of the participation of French Overseas Territories and its differentiated modalities. The conclusion provides an overall assessment of observed dynamics.