“Our relationship will not be affected” – LaRocque on Brexit

As the eyes of the world continue to be fixed on the United Kingdom (UK) following its recent vote in a

referendum to exit the European Union (EU), the Caribbean Community (Caricom) believes that its relationship with either will not be affected by that move.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion with the media on Saturday, ahead of the 37th Heads of Government Summit here in Guyana, Caricom Secretary General Irwin LaRoque pointed out that while the situation on the ground in the UK is evolving rapidly, he does not foresee anything happening overnight that will have a drastic impact on relations with Caribbean States.

He noted that there is definitely an anxiety over the UK’s exit and with the UK being a significant contributor to the European Development Fund (EDF), from which Caricom benefits, the community will be closely monitoring the situation as it evolves.

“I don’t anticipate that our relationship in terms of Europe to be directly affected… We don’t anticipate any diminishing of relationship of the EU and certainly not the UK, our relations are very strong,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge reiterated that the Brexit situation is complex and problematic. He noted that there is spectrum of things explained that EDF aid is a legal commitment from the UK and this arrangement cannot be altered until Cotonou expires in four years’ time.

Greenidge had explained to reporters on Friday at a media conference that Guyana is a party to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the Caribbean and EU, as well as the Cotonou Agreement between ACP and EU. These agreements, he asserted, are legally binding commitments to member States:

“There is not likely to be any short-term adverse consequences by way of a curtailing of resource or resource flows or curtailment of access of, let us say sugar or any other commodity into the European Union, whatever may be the case in relation to Britain,”

Three days ago, 51.9 per cent of UK voted in a referendum to leave the EU trade bloc. This was despite 48.1 per cent vote from London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backing ‘stay’ in EU.

Moreover, Greenidge had stressed that the future of market access for Guyana’s products will depend on new trade negotiations by the UK.

“For specific products, you may have some hiccups but that may depend on exactly what Britain itself negotiates in relation to the European Union,” he explained.

According to the EU, the 11th EDF, which spans 2014 to 2020, has a budget of €30.5 billion. This is an increase from the €22.7 billion in the 10th EDF, which covered the period 2008 to 2013.