EU-CARIBBEAN PARTNERSHIP (6129/06)
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Hilary
Benn MP, Secretary of State, Department for International Development
Thank you for your Explanatory Memorandum dated
14 March 2006 which Sub-Committee C considered at its meeting
on 23 March. The Sub-Committee agreed to clear the document from
scrutiny.
We fully support the Commission's proposals
in this Communication which recognise the many challenges still
facing all the Caribbean states, despite the fact that many of
them are listed as middle-income countries. The Communication
demonstrates that crude statistical analyses of which countries
need support in order to develop viable economies and increase
their stability are insufficient. Although the Caribbean region
as a whole has achieved significant levels of human development,
the existence of pockets of extreme poverty, as well as wide-ranging
challenges such as the spread of HIV/AIDS, ensure that the region
continues to require the full support of both the EU and the UK
government.
We believe the Commission to be right in its
statement that: "In spite of what may appear at first glance
from economic indicators and of the ambition of some countries
to achieve the status of developed countries by 2020, there are
concerns that some Caribbean states may slip from Middle Income
to Low Income status if steps are not taken to reverse economic
trends and to define security and stability strategies that will
take fully into account the emerging global realities and address
the challenges and opportunities ahead." We hope that you
will agree that this is the correct approach to be taken, both
with regards to the Caribbean and to other countries in a similar
economic position.
23 March 2006
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