BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley Monday called on her Caribbean Community (CARICOM) counterparts to have more regular meetings to discuss issues critical to regional integration.

Addressing a regional stakeholders’ consultation on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), under the theme ‘What is in it for Me?’, Mottley suggested that Caribbean Heads of Government follow the lead of those in Europe who meet regularly.

“Maybe because of Brexit we’ve seen it, but almost every two or three weeks the Heads of Government of the European Union are meeting. But we believe a smaller group of people [CARICOM] needs to meet only twice a year, and what happens in between the two meetings then depends on what happens at the sub-committee level or potentially if there is a crisis.

“That, in my view, has to change if we are going to bring our movement into fully the third decade of the 21st century, which in fact starts in less than 60 days. Unless we quicken the pace of discussion and implementation we are going to marginalize the region without even realising it,” Mottley said.

The Barbadian leader was adamant that the CSME is vital to the success of the region.

CARICOM Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, added that the CSME remained the best platform for achieving sustainable economic growth and development for member states, as well as for international competitiveness and economic resilience for the region.

However, he admitted that although a lot of technical work was taking place, implementation was still a problem.

“We must address the operations of the CSME and what needs to be done in order to make them more effective. These consultations are expected to improve the decision-making process in the various organs of the community. The organs must meet more regularly,” he stated.

Meantime, Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong stressed that if the CSME is to achieve socio-economic development, then more institutions in the region need to be part of the consultative process, and to better inform the people of the Caribbean about their role.

“We have 18 institutions, [and] seven associate institutions. If they all made a much bigger effort to communicate with the Caribbean people, to bring to the consciousness of the Caribbean people that they exist and that they are doing good work on behalf of the people of the Caribbean, we will develop an ideology of regionalism in our Caribbean community,” he said.

Comissiong told the stakeholders gathered at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) headquarters, including labour, the private sector and civil society, that they had an obligation to the people of the region to “make an effort to make the CSME work”.

“People say they want consultation, but consultation calls for work. It calls for attending meetings, not finding excuses not to be there,” he contended.