provisions and decisions. In this regard, the freedom of movement regime has emerged as an acute and emblematic illustration of stresses and dysfunction in the integration dispositions as well as in relations between Member States. An issue which has remained dormant for some time but which is starting to rear its head is the widening and deepening of the Community. Because of its potentially profound impact on the future of the integration process, and the questions it raises, the issue will no doubt engage the attention of Heads of Government in the coming years. Among these questions would be what would deepening entail and the impact of widening on the operations of the Community, on achieving a single economy, on foreign policy co-ordination and on the very personality of the Community though it would broaden the regional market. The matter has been given new life by several developments the renewed request of the Dominican Republic (DR) to become a – Member of CARICOM, an issue which has been placed in abeyance for the time being following the unacceptable treatment meted out to Dominicans of Haitian descent made stateless following the Constitutional Court ruling of 2013 on nationality; the request for Associate Membership from the French and Dutch overseas territories in our region; and the profound changes taking place in Cuba associated with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States (US) and Cuba and which make Cuba a new open market as well as a competitor for the Community. The Secretariat was mandated by the Conference in February of this year to make policy recommendations on the enlargement of the Community. Even as the Community embarks on the upgrading and updating of its institutional procedures and systems to respond more effectively to the need to improve the welfare of the people of the Community; even as it considers the issues of future widening and deepening as part of the future pathway of the Community, the maintenance of the integrity of the integration process will be a source of heightened concern. History, insularity, the unyielding persistence of the current economic and social difficulties have turned the individual gaze inwards. The burden placed on the capacities of the smaller States of the Community to service the competing demands of two integration processes are also an obstacle. A sense of inequity, expressed or unsaid, in the distribution of the
provisions and decisions. In this regard, the freedom of movement regime has emerged as an acute and emblematic illustration of stresses and dysfunction in the integration dispositions as well as in relations between Member States. An issue which has remained dormant for some time but which is starting to rear its head is the widening and deepening of the Community. Because of its potentially profound impact on the future of the integration process, and the questions it raises, the issue will no doubt engage the attention of Heads of Government in the coming years. Among these questions would be what would deepening entail and the impact of widening on the operations of the Community, on achieving a single economy, on foreign policy co-ordination and on the very personality of the Community though it would broaden the regional market. The matter has been given new life by several developments – the renewed request of the Dominican Republic (DR) to become a Member of CARICOM, an issue which has been placed in abeyance for the time being following the unacceptable treatment meted out to Dominicans of Haitian descent made stateless following the Constitutional Court ruling of 2013 on nationality; the request for Associate Membership from the French and Dutch overseas territories in our region; and the profound changes taking place in Cuba associated with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States (US) and Cuba and which make Cuba a new open market as well as a competitor for the Community. The Secretariat was mandated by the Conference in February of this year to make policy recommendations on the enlargement of the Community. Even as the Community embarks on the upgrading and updating of its institutional procedures and systems to respond more effectively to the need to improve the welfare of the people of the Community; even as it considers the issues of future widening and deepening as part of the future pathway of the Community, the maintenance of the integrity of the integration process will be a source of heightened concern. History, insularity, the unyielding persistence of the current economic and social difficulties have turned the individual gaze inwards. The burden placed on the capacities of the smaller States of the Community to service the competing demands of two integration processes are also an obstacle. A sense of inequity, expressed or unsaid, in the distribution of the
caricom-trends-towards-the-future.docx