CARICOM foreign ministers condemn EU over blacklisting of regional states

May 13, 2020 News

CMC— Caribbean Community (CARICOM) foreign ministers have “rejected the arbitrary and unilateral imposition of blacklisting by the European Union” on several CARICOM countries.
Last week, the EU said under the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD), it has revised its list, taking into account developments at the international level since 2018 and that the “new list is now better aligned with the lists published by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force)”.
The countries which have been listed are The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, along with Botswana, Cambodia, Ghana, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama and Zimbabwe.
But Guyana is among six other third world countries that have been de-listed.
In a statement issued Monday following last week’s 23rd meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), the foreign ministers said they “rejected the arbitrary and unilateral imposition of blacklisting by the EU on several member states of the Community.
“They expressed concern over the constant shifting of goal posts, the continued lack of prior consultation or notification and the unwillingness to take into account the efforts at compliance made by CARICOM member states,” the statement noted.
It said that the “measure was viewed as detrimental to the economies of the affected states which are already in recession.
“The Community called on the EU to take into consideration the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic wellbeing of the small states of CARICOM in their policy-making,” the statement added.
The statement said that the foreign ministers also reviewed the region’s relations with both its traditional and more recent partners and discussed ways and means by which these relations could further be strengthened.
“The COFCOR also reflected on the need to engage new partners with a view to promoting an appreciation of the Community’s interests and catalysing new development platforms.”
The statement said particular attention was paid to developments, such as BREXIT and the negotiation of the successor to the Cotonou Agreement, “which are having a profound impact on the nature of existing relationships, hence the focus on relations with the UK in its new dispensation and the European Union (EU)”.
The statement said that with the seventh CARICOM-Cuba Summit scheduled to be held in Cuba in December, the foreign ministers received an update on the status of relations.

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