The EU-CARIFORUM agreement is an economic partnership agreement (EPA) concluded between the European Union and the 15 Carribean states Antigua and Berbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Granadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago on 16 December 2007. The agreement was officially signed on 15. Oktober 2008.

Haiti and Cuba, which are part of the CARIFORUM confederation, too, did not sign this agreement. This is because Haiti was not in a position to do so, and Cuba, as a non-member of the ACP group, did not participate in the negotiations. The EU continues its talks with Haiti.

The EU-CARIFORUM agreement is the first comprehensive North-South agreement. It strongly supports the CARIFORUM’s economic opportunities, and benefits the European Union at the same time.

The European Centre for Development Policy Managment (ECDPM) launched in cooperation with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable development (ICTSD), the ACP-EU Trade website. On this website, you find regular updates on the state of play of the trade negotiations with ACP countries. ESF provides material on this in its members area.

For more details consult the

• European Commission fact sheet on EU-CARIFORUM trade in services
• Full text of the Cariforum-EC EPA
• European Commission’s information paper CARIFORUM-EU EPA
• Sustainability Impact Assessment
• Carribean regional negotiation machinery
• DG Trade’s website on the EU-CARIFOURUM EPA
• Introduction to the CARIFORUM EPA
• The contribution of services to development and the role of trade liberalisation and trade regulation
• Analysis of EPA CARIFORUM Trade in services

Statistics only for ACP countries in general found

www.caricom.org
3 www.oecs.org
3 www.caribank.org