It is a great pleasure to be here today and to have this opportunity to engage with you in this Dialogue on Regional Integration and further integration.

I want to extend special thanks to the Prime Minister and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda for their hosting of this meeting and also to thank all those who have been instrumental in its organisation.

This Dialogue is taking place at a crucial juncture and therefore quality and the depth of our deliberations today will play a significant role in developments both in terms of providing support to the region’s integration and in terms of European Union–Caribbean relations.

In the last 18 months or so, many things have happened, globally, regionally and in our relations. The global financial crisis has spared no country or region in the world and forcing a rethink of global financial governance and significantly strengthening the case for more regional integration. Several of our MS would have been much more affected if they had not been part of the European Union.

The signature of the EU- Caribbean EPA in 2008 is a landmark. I do firmly believe that the EPA will bring significant benefits and opportunities to the region, much more than the old trade provisions of Cotonou and Lomé ever did. Not only will it open the European Markets to Caribbean exporters but it will also significantly contribute to the building of the Caribbean regional market and promote closer integration.

We have recently signed Strategy Papers worth almost 1 bn € (960 €), including the €165 m of the Regional Programme. In addition to this, there are numerous other funding sources. We have thus more than doubled the resources we put at the disposal of the region compared to the past.

The path towards also a more political relation between Cariforum and the EU has been indicated by the Strategy of 2006 and was further pushed forward at the occasion of the last EU-LAC and EU-Cariforum summit in Lima in 2008. Now, in view of the up-coming summits in May 2010 in Spain we should operationalise the political dialogue at regional as well as national level and perhaps work out a joint EU-Cariforum strategy.

The policy and programmatic framework is therefore in place. Now we need the political will progress towards closer regional integration – that is your decision - and cooperation is the essential element that underpins the process – that has to be our contribution. Nevertheless to make this vision a reality takes a lot of hard work and single minded persistence.

While we will sing the praises of regionalism in our opening statements, the next sessions of our meeting will be where we jointly roll up our sleeves and decide on what needs to be done and how we can work together to contribute to the achievement of the objectives we are setting.

It is essential for our collective credibility: we are not there yet and it is a matter of shared responsibility.

• This is the main objective of today’s meeting and the essence of the Roadmap that is the central topic of our deliberations today. • To be successful, the Roadmap process must be a participatory exercise, with in depth and committed involvement by all the actors, both individual CARIFORUM Member States and regional organisations. I think about our very own experience within the EC: We, at the Commission manage the funds for the development of our regions, but the identification is done by our Member States. • The next session is crucial: it is about the formulation of a list of concrete priorities. Money is important but reform and accompanying politics are the necessary preconditions. • Therefore I am very happy to see the significant presence from all the CARIFORUM Member States. I am sure that discussions will not be easy, but that they will be very constructive and produced a good result that will allow us to go forward together in the cooperation efforts safe in the knowledge that no one is being left behind.

• After all this is our single overall objective: to ensure that benefits from regional integration and cooperation are delivered to all the people in the Caribbean.

• The European Commission particularly welcomes and will support the region’s efforts to achieve closer links with the wider Caribbean. We attach particular importance to the strengthening of the links with the European territories, the OCTs, and outermost regions, the French DOMs, in the Caribbean. Closer cooperation in the area of Civil Protection, as a pilot programme has been prepared and it seems to be gathering substantial support from all actors. There is also the cooperation with Cuba and Latin America which offers significant opportunities and can be further strengthened.

• The relations between the EU and the Caribbean are long standing and deep. I am certain that the political will is there for this relationship to grow stronger and more mature. We have engaged in political dialogue as equal partners, supportive of each other in our bilateral relations but also in the global fora. In May 2010 will be held in Spain the next EU-LAC and EU-CARIFORUM Summits. By then we must have made major progress in our cooperation. This will be an excellent opportunity to review our relationship and reassess our joint priorities. It is probably the right period to revisit the Caribbean Communication of 2006 which enshrines current EU policy towards the Caribbean, and why not, work together on a joint strategy that we could adopt at the Summit.

• Once again, I wish to thank our hosts for their invitation and to wish all present a successful and above all constructive and result-rich meeting.

Thank you

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org