PROFESSOR BRIAN Meeks, Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI), said countries in the region must unite to remain relevant in the global economy.
In a recent interview with JIS News, Professor Meeks pointed out that with an average size of 500,000, the small size of each country made them uncompetitive individually, but with a regional force of 35 million, the Caribbean was better empowered to negotiate trade and economic matters with nations of similar size.
"We need to find ways to unite to negotiate with the rest of the world, to increase the space for our own people to move up and down and to consider the region to be their home," he said.
He, however, cautioned against repeating the mistakes of the federation experience, where issues such as the location of a federal capital were given priority over matters of greater importance.
MODELLING THE EU
Professor Meeks suggested that CARICOM states model the European Union (EU) in its approach and unite around issues that would ensure the viability of nations, such as the development of a common currency and the free movement of persons, while disregarding the things that do not matter.
Pointing to the experience of the Eastern Caribbean (EC), where Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua, Dominica and St. Kitts share a common currency, Professor Meeks said the EC dollar was the most stable in the region.
He said a common currency arrangement would enhance democracy in the region, as no one government would be able to dictate how the central bank should operate. "When one government has control of something as sensitive as a central bank, then there is always the danger that (the bank) will follow an irresponsible fiscal policy," he said.
As for the free movement of Caribbean people within the region, Professor Meeks said "we've always modelled CARICOM on the basis of trade, but in fact, the question of human needs have never been high on the agenda."
MATCHING RESOURCES WITH PEOPLE
He said, for example, that Guyana was as large as England in terms of its physical size, while Belize was twice the size of Jamaica, but only had 250,000 people. According to him, if resources were matched with people, then persons from other countries could utilise spaces in those countries for productive purposes.
Professor Meeks also said the establishment of a common court of appeal such as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) would take decisions out of homeland courts and so there would be greater objectivity, as the decisions of those courts were less likely to be influenced by local forces. He added that the "CCJ would also enhance the sovereignty of the CARICOM region by allowing us to make our final decisions."
To further enhance the democratic process, the university lecturer suggested the establishment of a regional electoral advisory commission, composed of persons from various islands, who would be empowered to make judgements regarding electoral matters. Such a body, he said, would have a degree of neutrality that would be greater than that which obtained in individual jurisdictions, thus enhancing the process of democracy.
Professor Meeks also said there was the need for CARICOM to develop a production agenda and a strategy for service industries, "which could be approached collectively to enhance us altogether."
