SETTING UP THE UWI CENTRE IN THE EU
With the intent to deepen ties between the Caribbean and Europe and help The UWI protect the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the European Union (EU), a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed virtually between The UWI and the European University Institute (EUI), on July 14, 2020. The agreement follows a year of negotiations and includes the establishment of a research centre to promote inter- and intra-regional development and encourage discourse on how transnational and global issues impact the Caribbean Region and Europe. Areas of common interest include sustainable development, multilateral trade, gender equality, security, environment and climate change, migration, energy, regional integration processes and transnational governance. This collaboration is a strategic response to the negative impact upon the region following Brexit, as well as the downgrading of the region’s finance sector by the EU, and the poor responses of regional entrepreneurs to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Referring to the relationship between Europe and the Caribbean over 500 years as “one of the most intense historical experiences between two parts of
the world and the basis of modernity as we know it”, Vice-Chancellor Beckles said, “It is a relationship that has to be sustained within the context of its positive contributions, mutually to Europe and to the Caribbean, and of course to the wider world. So, it is perfectly normal therefore that universities ought to be coming together within this context to sustain the benefits and to provide a vision for the future of this relationship.” Professor Renaud Dehousse, President of the EUI, said that given The UWI’s excellent reputation, “the partnership is a kind of bridgehead in the broader Caribbean and Latin American world and represents an opening towards a region of the world in which we are still developing contacts.” He added that “Europe’s problems today are no longer confined to what is going on within its borders, and it is absolutely indispensable for us to open up towards other regions of the world, as well as to other kinds of actors.” The joint UWI-EU centre will be located in Florence, Italy and will provide services to the region’s Foreign Service community, business groups, and advocacy leaders in issues such as public health, climate change, and economics equity for small island nations.
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