The OECS was established with the June 18th 1981 signing of the Treaty of Basseterre. OECS Member Governments have taken the decision to move beyond the current areas of functional cooperation, and to establish an OECS Economic Union. The Governments have agreed to have the inauguration of the Economic Union on June 18th 2010, which marks the beginning of the OECS 30th anniversary year.
http://www.oecs.org/Press/news_28th_anniversary.html
Viva la OECS! We have to give thanks and praise where it is due and welcome this progress being made by the OECS. And yes, when we have deepened and strengthen OECS integration we can consider expansion. In fact, OECS may well emerge as the mechanism which drives deeper and further Caribbean integration.
ReplyDeleteCaricom was formed out of a common purpose but was driven mainly by nostalgia for the failed W.I. Federation. Times have changed and keeps changing rapidly – has Caricom kept up? Jamaica has certainly stuck to its old ways!
It will be interesting to see what happens at the Caricom Summit next month in Guyana. I believe this summit will mark the strengthening of the future or the beginning of the breaking up of Caricom. The time has come to define what we want out of Caricom today – if it is to remain an economic union – then let us fine tune the agreement and stick to the letter. If it is to be anything more than economics – then let us be explicit and define that – end the never-ending debate!
While Caricom dreams of integration – and holds those never-ending debates on Regionalism (or as Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves calls it, “discussion in the sense of being a continuous university seminar” – OECS will show Caricom how it is done, pragmatically! Once again viva la OECS!