EU-OCT

Relations Between the Overseas Countries and Territories and the European Union. In a recent article published in MercoPress we learn what our leaders were doing, or not doing as the case may be, on our behalf in their recent meetings in London. These meetings were held in the last week in November and the first week in December.

The article concerns the November meetings. The information comes in a release from Mike Summers, one of the representatives of the Falkland Islands. We wish that all our leaders in the OTs were so open. It does not strike any of us in Anguilla as odd that we have to go to a newspaper published in Montevideo, Uruguay, to learn about meetings between the Overseas Territories’ representatives and the representatives of the European Union.

The representatives of the Overseas Territories took the opportunity to meet to discuss the composition of a paper reviewing our relationship with the European Union. This is important because increasingly in the years to come the European Union will pass laws that are going to apply to us in the Overseas Territories. They have already begun to do so in tax and trade matters. We need to have a unified position if we are to be able to defend ourselves from any onslaught on our liberties by the Europeans.

There has not been a word about these meetings in any press release on the website of the Government of Anguilla. Not a word in The Anguillian newspaper. A Government press release on the various social events attended by the Anguilla team while in London suggests that this aspect dominated their time.

One feels justified in concluding that our leaders are convinced that the less we know about Europe’s plans for us, the less trouble we can be to them.

Of course, it could just be that none of our team from Anguilla bothered to attend the November meetings. Maybe, they know nothing about these developments. If this is so, in my view, it will prove to be very unfortunate for us!