Caribbean-European Relations: Did 9/11 Make a Difference?

• Author: Peter Clegg
• Pages: 273-309

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Caribbean-European Relations

Caribbean-European Relations:

Did 9/11 make a difference?

Peter Clegg

Europe’s presence in the Caribbean is the product of a long and eventful

history. At one time or another nearly all the major European powers have

identified a Caribbean interest and more than any other region of the

world the Caribbean bears the impress of the era of European colonialism

… The European presence is rooted in the foundations and the fabric of

the area and is reproduced in countless ways in nearly every aspect of the

economic, social and political life of the modern Caribbean.1

Paul Sutton

Introduction

The ramifications, both politically and economically, of the September

11, 2001 terrorist attacks have been profound for the Caribbean and Europe.

Caribbean states have been adversely affected by the decline in international

economic confidence, particularly in regard to the tourist sector. In addition,

the region’s offshore banking sector has been criticised for its lax regulation

and lack of transparency, issues of paramount importance in an era of

heightened concerns over security and terrorist financing. Indeed, across a

wide range of matters related to regional and international security, and

political and economic good practice Caribbean countries have been

challenged to meet the obligations necessary to survive in a more uncertain

international environment. Similarly, European states as well as the European

Union (EU) have been forced to recognise and respond to the impact of

September 11.

11

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Caribbean Security in the Age of Terror

Within the context of this chapter, however, rather than assessing the

respective issues of concern for the Caribbean and Europe, an evaluation is

made as to whether the terrorist attacks of September 11 have altered the

dynamics and nature of the long-standing relationship between these two

regions. The first part of the chapter considers the Caribbean region’s

relationship with those European states, the UK, France and the Netherlands,

which have particularly close ties with the Caribbean, while the second part

concentrates on the Caribbean’s relationship with the EU.

Caribbean relations with European states post-9/11

As the epigraph indicated, the nature of Caribbean-European relations is

long-standing and complex, with a great deal of historical baggage

underpinning ties between the two regions. As will be seen in the second part

of the chapter, the EU is an important and growing component within the

fabric of Caribbean-European relations. However, individual states within

Europe retain significant links with the Caribbean region. In order to fully

comprehend whether the nature of Caribbean-European relations has altered

after the terrorist attacks of September 11, an assessment needs to be made of

the relationship between the Caribbean and those European states with a

particular interest in the region. Within the context of this chapter, the

relationship that the Caribbean region has with the UK, France and the

Netherlands is considered. All three countries have links with the Caribbean

going back almost four centuries, first as colonising powers, and then much

later with their own particular post-colonial political and economic

arrangements. The first section considers the nature of these different

relationships, and the state of political relations in the aftermath of 9/11.

Caribbean-European political relations: an overview

The Caribbean-UK relationship

The nature of the UK’s relationship with the Caribbean has been

underpinned in large measure since the 1960s by cooperation involving

independent states. Since 1962 the vast majority of the UK’s Caribbean colonies

have gained their independence. However, the UK still oversees five very

small territories: Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat

and Turks and Caicos Islands. Formerly referred to as British Dependent

Territories, they were renamed British Overseas Territories in May 2002 as

part of the British Overseas Territories Act. The Act, emanating from a

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Caribbean-European Relations

policy review started in 1997, altered the form if not the substance of the

relationship between the UK and its territories, with an emphasis on partnership

and mutual obligations and responsibilities. The legislation provided greater

autonomy for the territories to run their own affairs, albeit under the continued

supervision of UK-appointed governors.

In addition, the Act granted the right of UK citizenship to all inhabitants

of Britain’s Overseas Territories, although without providing them with full

voting rights and representation in the UK Parliament. In return, the UK

expected the territories to meet ‘the highest standards of probity, law and

order, good government and observance of Britain’s international

commitments’ (‘Partnership for Progress and Prosperity’, FCO website). This

has meant tighter controls being imposed on the territories’ offshore financial

sector and their use of corporal and capital punishment. While homosexual

acts between consenting adults in private have now been decriminalised,

these changes have been imposed in many cases without the full agreement

of the territories themselves and this has created tensions within the

relationship. However, it is important to recognise that though the British

Overseas Territories Act came into law after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the

first ideas for reform were apparent in 1997, a full four years before the

September 11 outrage.

As with the UK’s relationship with the Caribbean Overseas Territories,

measures have been undertaken to reform the links with the independent

Commonwealth Caribbean states, prior and without reference to the September

11 attacks on the United States (US). The relationship between the

Commonwealth Caribbean and the UK since 9/11 has, to a great extent,

continued on the lines set in 1997 and 1998. The present relationship was

established with the accession to power of the British Labour Party in 1997.

The approach developed at that time after the Commonwealth Heads of

Government Meeting in Edinburgh in November 1997, when the new UK

prime minister, Tony Blair, and foreign secretary, Robin Cook, failed to

meet Caribbean leaders as a group away from the main conference gathering.

The Caribbean leaders were not pleased with such a perceived snub, and as

a consequence vented their displeasure with the British government. The

roots of this more disengaged relationship on the part of the UK originated in

the 1970s and 1980s when the UK divested itself of most of its dependent

territories likely to be candidates for independence and concentrated on the

efficient management of the remainder.

In response to the clear displeasure of Caribbean leaders, Foreign Secretary

Cook took action in an attempt to mollify the region’s leaders by establishing