The Caribbean Community

Jul 02, 2023 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be celebrating 50 years this week. It has grown from a grouping of a few states into a regional integration movement encompassing 15 member states; and has had both its failures and successes.

CARICOM has had a start-stop history. There was time when the regional integration movement was at a dead stop.

CARICOM has also been a divided house. It was certain CARICOM Head, namely Eugenia Charles and Tom Adams who supported and even invited the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. And Eugenia Charles was even plotting to have Burnham expelled from CARICOM for rigging elections.

However, there have been some noteworthy achievements by the Caribbean Community. The most noteworthy has been the single market – concerned with the movement of goods. Despite having the most uncommon common external tariff, the single market remains one of the most defining achievements of CARICOM.

Regrettably, when it comes to the single economy, there has been too little progress. Free movement of goods under the single market exists but only limited progress is being made in respect to the free movement of capital. Persons still complain about administrative hassles in rights of establishment in some Caribbean countries. While in recent times, there has been additional categories of workers allowed free movement within the Community, there needs to be much more in regards the liberalization of the free movement of labour.

The CSME has been a victim of slothfulness and appears to lack a workable model. But the greatest bugbear has been the diverse national interests of the 15 member states. Often when faced with crises, member states view regional integration as a luxury rather than a necessity and national interests takes precedence over regional integration.

But there are also practical considerations that have hindered regional integration. The region has diverse economic structure and countries at different stages of development. This presents a problem with harmonization, especially the task of having a single currency which can be used in all member states. Some countries also are not keen on liberalizing the free movement of persons for fear of the social costs which may have to be borne by their nationals.

CARICOM’s decision-making processes have faced criticism for being slow, bureaucratic, and lacking enforcement mechanisms. The consensus-driven approach, while designed to accommodate diverse national interests, has at times impeded timely and decisive action. Despite the relaxation of the unanimity rule, leaders appear to be ill-prepared for rapid and decisive decision-making at summits. These summits are often commonly described as “talk-shops”.

Decisions are made and then allowed to languish. Irfaan Ali, Guyana’s President, is attempting desperately to revive the still-born Jagdeo Initiative. He is also attempting to dismantle trade barriers. But this is not an original idea from within the Caribbean. Two years ago, the IMF suggested that a 25% reduction in non-tariff barriers and trade costs within CARICOM can bring about significant economic gains, suggesting that many of the Caribbean’s initiative are not indigenous to the region.

The problems associated with decision making are worsened by the implementation gap. This gap has hindered the full realization of the intended benefits of integration. There has been a significant gap between the formulation of policies at the regional level and their effective implementation at the national level. Member states often face challenges in aligning their domestic legislation and administrative frameworks with the CSME provisions, resulting in delays and inconsistencies in implementation. This implementation gap has been a major obstacle to realizing the full potential of the CSME.

Regional integration theory posits that integration should be able to close gaps in economic disparities among member states. By promoting economic cooperation, integration is supposed to increase trade, investment, and resource allocation efficiency among member states. And along with these, the elimination of trade barriers, harmonization of policies, and development of common institutions, can help reduce economic disparities

Within CARICOM this has not happened and the disparities have widened. Disparities in GDP per capita, unemployment rates, and access to essential services persist, hampering inclusive growth and social development.

Factors contributing to this state of affairs are structural weaknesses, limited economic diversification within the region and of course the fact that external shocks have historically wreaked havoc in regional economies.

But there is a more fundamental flaw within CARICOM.  CARICOM is patterned after the European Union (EU) integration model. CARICOM is a copycat model. The EU’s free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor and the harmonization of regulations, within the EU, has served as a blueprint for CARICOM’s development.

The EU’s model of regional integration has been the most successful integration model. What has made it so successful is the presence of supranational institutions. However, the leaders of CARICOM have failed to have such supranational institutions. They fear the erosion of national sovereignty.

Unless this is reversed, there is only one place that the regional integration movement will go: downwards.

Happy 50^th Birthday to CARICOM!

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Eugenia Charles, member, Peeping Tom, successes

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