Foreign Minister hedges on naming region’s EPA negotiators ‘paid’ by EU

Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett -Birkett has declined to name Caribbean negotiators who she said had been paid by the European Union (EU) to seal the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the region.

In response to questions in the National Assembly by A Partnership for National Unity’s Shadow Finance Minister (APNU) Carl Greenidge, Rodrigues-Birkett  referred him to Standing Order 17(1) and deflected enquiries about who and how much were paid by the EU.

“The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs is not responsible for the payment of the CARIFORUM College of Negotiators which comprises several CARICOM nationals and therefore cannot provide this information,”