CUBA-EU: ‘Some Assembly Required’ in Bilateral Relations

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Oct 30 2002 (IPS) - The European Union’s official "common position" which for six years has set the conditions for the bloc’s relationship with Cuba, has not achieved the political reforms its 15 members have sought on the island and may actually be undercutting their potential for influence.

"No one believes any longer in the effectiveness" of the EU common position, which only continues today because of "inertia" and the real support of just three or four of the bloc’s member countries, said Eduardo Perera, researcher at the Centre for European Studies (CEE), in Havana, in a conversation with IPS.

In 1996 the EU approved a resolution in which it acknowledged "the tentative economic opening undertaken in Cuba to date," although it added that "full cooperation will depend upon improvements in human rights and political freedom" on the socialist-run Caribbean island.

Later, at the behest of Spain, the EU agreed to intensify dialogue "with the Cuban authorities and with all sectors of Cuban society in order to promote respect for human rights and real progress towards pluralist democracy."

In its evaluations of the common position on Cuba, made every six months, the EU continues insisting on "a process of peaceful transition to pluralist democracy" as a requisite for the island to qualify for the bloc’s international cooperation.

But the Fidel Castro government sees these demands as "unacceptable interference" in the Cuba’s domestic affairs, and he rejects "prior conditions" stipulated for sitting down to dialogue.

"The European policy will change when the Cuban policy changes. It should come as no surprise that there haven’t been changes in the EU’s common position," a European diplomat accredited in Havana said in comments to IPS.

The diplomat noted it has been made clear that "each human rights programme implemented in Cuba will be a determining factor in permitting a change in the EU policy that is expressed in the common position."

Meanwhile, Cuba cannot sign any agreements with the EU, which prevents the island’s access to all the international assistance instruments provided by the bloc to other countries.

But Cuba does maintain diplomatic relations with each of the EU member nations.

The common position constitutes "a point of fundamental friction between both parties," which stands in the way of creating possibilities for bilateral dialogue, said the expert from the CEE, an independent legal entity.

Perera commented that the EU’s behaviour with regard to Cuba is discriminatory because it sets "observable political and economic changes" as the conditions for "the future development of bilateral cooperation."

He clarified that all agreements that the European bloc has signed with Latin American nations, including the most recent with Mexico and Chile, are of the so-called "third generation", which include what is referred to as a democratic clause.

"But in Cuba’s case the EU has attempted to set conditions not for assistance, but for the negotiation of any agreement," the researcher explained.

Although it is known that Cuba has its reservations about the democratic clause, the EU has never determined whether the Castro government might agree with the stipulations similar to those included in accords reached with other Latin American nations.

"The island (Cuba) was never given the chance to sit down at the negotiating table as an equal of the EU, because that possibility itself is conditioned upon satisfying the political prerequisites," added Perera.

Among other things, the democratic clause requires complete recognition of democratic values and human rights. The violation of any of the stipulations can imply a denunciation, and thus an end to the agreement.

In the international sphere, the EU so far consistently has voted in the United Nations in favour of ending the unilateral trade embargo that the United States has imposed against Cuba for the last four decades. But the bloc has also supported UN resolutions condemning the island’s government for its human rights record.

Officials from Havana and from the EU are currently drawing up an agenda for "talks on talks" they hope to hold in November to provide continuity to the "thawing of dialogue" begun in December 2001, when Belgium held the rotational presidency of the European bloc.

"What predominates today in the international arena is the negotiated route, and in these times there is a willingness by both parties to converse on innumerable issues," commented Perera.

According to official Cuban sources, in the first half of 2002, when the presidency of the EU bloc was in Spain’s hands, "there were no palpable advances" in the process.

The Castro government is confident in the positive results of dialogue, which should continue in the first half of 2003, when Greece is to succeed Denmark in the EU presidency.

Cuba maintains bilateral diplomatic relations with each of the EU’s 15 member states, as well as unfettered trade ties and even growing cooperation with some, marking a situation that Perera describes as "a big paradox".

From Brussels and Havana alike, it has been confirmed officially that the EU will establish representation with diplomatic status on the island in early 2003.

It is precisely the lack of an official EU delegation that the expert says limits its political presence here, contrasting with the case of the United States, which in spite of the absence of diplomatic ties with Cuba, maintains an office – known as the U.S. Special Interests Section – in the capital.

"The EU has not achieved its reform objectives in Cuba. Furthermore, its ability to influence the internal political scenario on the island has been reduced in comparative terms," noted Perera.

The European bloc, currently consisting of Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, is responsible for 34 percent of Cuban trade flows.

Ironically, Spain’s government under José María Aznar is the most vocal critic of Castro, but Spain is the island’s leading trade partner. In 2000, total bilateral exchange surpassed 893 million dollars, according to official figures.

The second-leading European market for Cuba is France. Trade between the two was more than 332 million dollars in 2000. Italy followed, with 331 million dollars in trade with Cuba.

And when it comes to foreign investment, Spain is also in the lead in terms of number of companies doing business in Cuba, with 25 percent of the total. Canada follows, with 19 percent, Italy with 14 percent, France four percent and Britain with three percent.