The Samoa Agreement: Focus on the Caribbean Economic Development and EU Partnership

Introduction

The Samoa Agreement was signed on November 15, 2023 and serves as the framework for European Union (EU) relations with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific (OACPS) states. The OACPS, with 79 member states, is the largest international organization yet to have entered into a legal agreement with the EU. The Samoa Agreement entered into force provisionally in January 2024. The European Parliament gave consent on April 10, 2024. All EU member states and two-thirds of OACPS member states must ratify the agreement. Within the OACPS, the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) is the EU trade agreement framework for Caribbean countries. The Samoa agreement provides continuity to earlier regional engagement conventions (the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements) between CARIFORUM states and the EU. This underscores that fundamental rights and humanitarian values are supported in the trade and economic relationships.

Prior to the Samoa Agreement, the 1975 Lomé (Togo) Convention and the Cotonou (Benin) Agreement, adopted in 2000, governed the EU's relationship with African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states within the OACPS. These agreements largely focused on trade and development assistance, and their objectives included eliminating poverty and promoting economic development. Seventy-one OACPS states and the European Economic Community (EEC) signed the Lomé Convention. The Samoa Agreement is among the most recent legal frameworks between the EU and the OACPS. While it contains some overlap with the Lomé and Cotonou agreements, it places greater emphasis on social, environmental, and governance-related issues.

OACPS member states are also members of other regional organizations. A smaller group of countries within the OACPS, the countries in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have robust trade relationships with the European Union, the United Kingdom, the US, and in recent years increasingly with China. Though the UK exited the EU in January 2020 (following the Brexit referendum in June 2016), the UK relationship with CARICOM remains strong in support of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In particular, the former British colonies of Barbados, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago (as the largest islands in the British West Indies) remain active in trade and economic partnerships with the UK. This policy brief provides examples from Jamaica, which established independence from the United Kingdom in 1962.

Examining trends in CARICOM (which includes 20 members, five of which are associate states) and CARIFORUM (which includes the Dominican Republic) provides insights into trade and investments with these major trade partners. CARIFORUM is the second largest trading partner of the EU, following the United States.

The relationship of CARIFORUM with the EU is grounded in the historical Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The first EPA became established with the Cotonou initiative in 2000 for OACPS members. The EU has subsequently negotiated EPAs with OACPS countries with the purpose to collaborate on trade and development. CARIFORUM serves as the administrative body for the EPA between its member states and the EU; the CARIFORUM-EU EPA has been in effect since October 2008 and addresses issues such as trade, environmental sustainability, and migration, which are also outlined in the Samoa Agreement.

Key Priority Areas for the Samoa Agreement in the Caribbean

The Samoa Agreement, with six priority areas, differs from the Cotonou Agreement in regard to their respective focus areas. The Cotonou Agreement included three pillars: development cooperation, economic and trade cooperation, and political dimension.

The multiannual financial framework, the EU's six-year budget for 2021-2027 includes spending for the ACP region in the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI). The budget for this six-year period is €79.5 billion globally. The NDICI funds are an instrument that the EU uses to support the ACP countries in the Samoa Agreement. This replaces prior support through the European Development Fund (EDF), which was outside of the EU's budget operating through 2021. The funding from the EDF to the Caribbean was $1.5 billion euros between 2014-2020. Global Gateway, established in 2023, is the platform for onward cooperation as the EU engages with the 79 OACPS member states, and it is funded by the NDICI.

The six priority areas for the Samoa Agreement are:

• Human rights, democracy and governance
• Peace and security
• Human and social development
• Environmental sustainability and climate change
• Inclusive sustainable economic growth and development
• Migration and mobility

The Samoa Agreement includes two pillars contained within the Cotonou Agreement (development cooperation and economic and trade cooperation), but it has a renewed focus on sustainable economic growth and development as well as climate change. It also emphasizes a human-centered focus with "democracy and human rights" and "human and social development." The areas of "peace and security" and "migration and mobility" are linked given that the absence of peace and security can be a root cause of migration.

As part of the EU's commitment to safe and orderly migration, a European Parliament position paper explains that the parties to the Samoa Agreement promise to strengthen cooperation in border management and to combat trafficking of migrants. However, certain provisions relating to human and social development are contentious for some OACPS members, who do not wish to acknowledge the protections for same-sex marriage or reproductive rights found in the Samoa Agreement. Countries have made public information campaigns to convey the commitment to national authority, in the adherence to their constitution, even while supporting the Samoa Agreement. As an example, Jamaica argued this ongoing commitment to the national constitution, while maintaining that it would adhere broadly to the Agreement, when signing in December 2023. The rationale is that the adherence to this process provides continuity with earlier regional engagement initiatives with the EU, the Lomé and Cotonou agreements, and that fundamental rights and humanitarian values are supported.

Regional Integration in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM or CC, is an intergovernmental organization of 15 member states and five associated states. CARICOM was established in August 1973. All of the CARIFORUM members are potential partners in the Samoa Agreement. Major issues today for CARICOM are supporting Haiti and combatting illicit drug trafficking.

The four pillars of CARCIOM are: economic integration; foreign policy cooperation; human and social development; and security. Regional integration in the Caribbean followed that of the EU. Various iterations of intergovernmental organization preceded the structure of CARICOM as it exists today. In 1958, the West Indies Federation was established. Recently the organization celebrated 50 Years Strong, since the original Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in July 1973. In 2023, there was an effort by CARICOM leaders to amend the treaty in order "to guarantee all CARICOM nationals the right to unrestricted travel to live and work in the Member countries of the Community." The amendment did not pass by the deadline; however, it would support the pillars of CARICOM and emphasize its commitment to greater regional integration.

The EU also engages with the region through the EU-CELAC (Community of Latin America and the Caribbean) framework, which includes membership of 33 countries. The most recent summit meeting in July 2023 announced that the cooperation with the region would be through the Global Gateway platform. The Global Gateway platform is defined by the European Commission as "stand[ing] for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet. It helps to tackle the most pressing global challenges, from fighting climate change, to improving health systems, and boosting competitiveness and security of global supply chains." The initial meeting in Brussels in October 2023 focused on energy, critical raw materials, connectivity, health, and education.

The significance of the broad reach in economic and political values put forward by the Samoa Agreement cannot be underestimated. As Jamaican sociologist Orlando Patterson explains, decades of attempts by countries and external actors introduce complexity to support economic development. Additional factors including domestic governance, private investment, and social legacies of colonialism affect the OACPS development experience.

The EU High Representative Josep Borell stated:

This agreement is a landmark for EU's external relations. The Samoa agreement brings together more than half of the UN members, from four continents, around shared priorities and interests. We are definitely moving away from the old paradigms and instruments that linked the EU to most of those countries into win-win partnerships that are fit for the current world. At a moment in time where multilateralism is in danger, the fact so many countries can come together and agree on joining forces to face global challenges opens a door for optimism.

China, the United States, and the European Union in the Caribbean

As world superpowers compete for influence in the region, China and the United States remain major trade and political partners for the Caribbean countries. According to the World Bank, World Integrated Trade System (WITS), these two economic and political superpowers are among the most significant trade partners by volume of exports and imports. In Jamaica, for example, total trade with the United States was more than US $3 billion and total trade with China was more than US $500 million in 2021. In the balance of trade between China and the EU, the trade relationship is defined by the increased exports from China, with bilateral trade totaling more than €700 million euros in 2023. The EU and the Caribbean total trade in 2021 exceeded €10 billion. EU exports were more than €6 billion and EU imports were more than €4 billion.

Since 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been the overarching framework for China's engagement abroad for trade and investment, and it has reached the Caribbean. As part of the BRI, China has engaged the Caribbean and specifically Jamaica with investments. For example, China provided, approximately a $500 million for the North-South Highway. The highway, in 2018, was renamed the Edward Seaga highway (named for the former Prime Minister) that connects Kingston and Ocho Rios. The Ambassador of China to Jamaica and the Minister of Education in Jamaica celebrated their partnership and "immortalized their friendship" and cooperation on education on May 23, 2024. The soft power of China is evident in the education landscape and with the Chinese culture centers throughout the country. There are Chinese Cultural and Friendship Centers throughout the capital city of Kingston in Jamaica, and the presence increases throughout the world in this spirit of the BRI.

In higher education, and demonstrating soft power influence through culture, there are Chinese Confucius Centers at all three campuses of the University of the West Indies (UWI). The UWI is the most prestigious university in the Caribbean, with three campuses across the British Commonwealth states of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados. The Confucius Center was founded at the UWI Mona Campus in Jamaica in 2018. This followed the founding of the Confucius Center at the St. Augustine campus in Trinidad & Tobago in 2013, for the teaching Mandarin Chinese language and the promotion of Chinese culture, and the center established at the Cave Hill campus in Barbados in 2015.

There is a great power rivalry in the Caribbean. There is an opportunity for deeper engagement, and Caribbean countries have a choice in building their alliances. The tool of soft power through educational exchanges and participation in international institutions remains viable and appropriate for engagement. There are varying standards in labor and social engagement, as well as in environmental sustainability, across the ACP states. The Samoa Agreement aims to elevate trade matters to give power to economic and social development as well as human rights concerns. As digital trade becomes increasingly relevant, these three superpowers - China, the United States and the European Union - will continue to shape the Caribbean and global trade landscape through regulations and resources.

Looking Forward: Policy Recommendations and Key Takeaways

• Develop opportunities to engage with the Caribbean to cultivate good governance.
• Provide technical assistance to develop trade markets and opportunities for investment.
• Invest in soft power initiatives including educational and professional exchanges.
• Recognize the superpower rivalry and competition for economic and political engagement in the Caribbean.
• The Samoa Agreement provisionally entered into force in January 2024. The ratification by all 27 EU member states and by at least twothirds (53) of the 79 OACPS members was required.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.