CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC):

A group of civil society organisations here has called for a referendum on the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiated between Europe and the region.

The Network of Civil Society welcomed last week's decision by the St Lucia government to hold back on signing the trade deal which is to replace existing preferential arrangements between the Caribbean and Europe.

"I think a referendum is critical not only because of the need to get people's views but also because if you are having a referendum you would be forced to educate the populace, thus allowing them to understand what is an EPA agreement and what implications are there for these less developed countries, and how can I as an ordinary citizen become prepared," said Flavia Cherry, president of the group.

Renegotiate

Cherry said the recent announcement by Prime Minister Stephenson King that St. Lucia will delay the signing was good for the country. Guyana has also indicated that it will not sign the deal on September 2, the original date set for the signing.

"This new position will provide St Lucia and the rest of CARICOM with an opportunity to renegotiate the agreement and focus on specific contentious areas," she said. "We are convinced that there needs to be provision in the EPA so that if you do sign and something goes wrong, then it should be easier to renegotiate or that you have three or five years within which they can review the EPA again."

Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, on Thursday evening hinted that the regional bloc could push back the signing of the agreement.

While Spencer declined to declare outright that the scheduled signing date of September 2 in Bridgetown was no longer on the table, he confirmed that he received a letter from the Barbados prime minister, David Thompson, on Wednesday, in which Thompson expressed concern about the "untenable inconsistencies" among member governments regarding the EPA.