By Vernon Daley, Staff ReporterTHE 24TH Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit officially opens this evening and leaders will huddle over the next few days to discuss crucial issues affecting the future of the 30-year-old regional grouping.
Implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), the controversial Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the energy sector, and the rise of crime and violence in the region, are some of the major issues that will dominate the meeting, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m. with an opening ceremony at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay.
During the talks, which end on Saturday, the leaders will explore the recommendations of a special prime ministerial committee on governance within the CSME.
The special committee comprises Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (chairman); Prime Ministers Owen Arthur of Barbados; Lester Bird of Antigua and Barbuda; Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago and P.J. Patterson of Jamaica. They were appointed following the 14th inter-sessional meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in February.
At a CARICOM media workshop in Kingston earlier this month, Dr. Gonsalves hinted that the recommendations will seek to alter the structure of regional economic arrangements in a fundamental way.
"Today we are on the verge of implementing the most ambitious form of economic union it is possible to conceive," he told journalists.
MAIN PILLAR
Attention will be focused on discussions on the CSME, which is set for implementation in 2005. Recently the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament approved legislation allowing for the free movement of skilled CARICOM nationals a main pillar of the CSME.
Free movement of goods and services are also essential elements of the economic arrangement, which regional leaders have pronounced as a life line for CARICOM states in a world dominated by mega trading blocs.
The CSME is expected to dovetail into the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), also set to be implemented by 2005. The group is expected to be the hemisphere's largest trading bloc, and will force away or reduce barriers to trade and investment.
CARICOM is taking part in the FTAA negotiations as a single bloc, representing the region and an update on those talks is expected at the Montego Bay summit.
A hot topic of discussion at this year's summit is the CCJ. The court has been proposed as a replacement to the UK-based Privy Council as the final appeal court for countries in the region. It will also adjudicate on trade disputes arising within the CSME.
Last month Jamaica ratified the agreement setting up the CCJ, facilitating plans to have the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) borrow some US$100 million to finance the court.
But while plans are being made to inaugurate the court this November, controversy is raging in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, as the main opposition parties in both countries press for a referendum to determine whether the CCJ should replace the Privy Council.
Another major issue, likely to surface at the summit is the request by the US Government to exempt its nationals from being brought before the International Criminal Court.
Fearing its peacekeepers could be exposed to politically motivated trials, the United States has been lobbying countries to sign agreements that would exempt Americans living abroad from trials in the court
The Hague, Netherlands-based court is modelled on the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed after July 1, 2002. CARICOM has fully backed the court. Whether it supports U.S. exemptions, however, will be discussed at the summit.
FUTURE
With the regional bloc now celebrating 30 years of existence, Caribbean leaders have been insisting that this year's summit should be used as both an occasion to look to its future as well as celebrate its achievements.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson will today assume the chair for the regional grouping and is expected to address fellow Prime Ministers and guests at the ceremony this evening.
Among those set to attend the summit are Thabo Mbeki, South African President; President of Chile, Ricardo Lagos; Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon; and Secretary-General of the Association of American States, Cesar Gaviria.
