The solidarity principle in the Caribean
PHOTO: Loïc Grard, director of the CRDEI and Jean-Bernard Nilam, delegate ambassador for regional cooperation in the West Indies & Guyana area
Invited by the CRDEI (Center for Research and Documentation European and International of Bordeaux 4 university), the association St Barth Essentiel participated in a conference held on November 26 and 27 in Bordeaux. This university symposium is organized since three years by the law and / or political science departments of the Universities of Bordeaux 4, Schœlcher in Martinique and Laval in Quebec City. It brings together university and civil speakers each year on different themes. 2018 theme was “The principle of solidarity in the Caribbean”
The conference began with an address by the Dean of the Faculty of Law of Bordeaux, Mr. Jean-Christophe Saint-Pau, followed by a half-day of interventions on the theme “Solidarity and Natural Hazards”. The former prefect to Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, Mrs. Anne Laubies, explained the solidarity mechanisms set up after Hurricane Irma. Following her were : Jean-Michel Despax, former Ambassador of France to Jamaica, who presented a diplomat point of view on the management of natural hazards in the Caribbean; Armand Riberolles, honorary magistrate who works to rebuild the Haitian judicial system and Mulry Mondelice, lecturer at Laval and Sherbrooke universities (Quebec) on a comparative European and North American approach to development aid and humanitarian in the Caribbean.
Solidarity and environment
The next day was a two-part event. The first one, on the theme “Solidarity and protection of the environment”, saw the intervention of Loïc Grard, Bordeaux university professor and director of CRDEI who defended the idea of ”an efficient regional environmental law in the Caribbean”. Karine Galy, lecturer at the université des Antilles later presented on the theme “Solidarity and regional cooperation: the role of regional organizations in the management of natural disasters” before giving way to Lisa Giorgini, PhD student from Bordeaux university who presented a first report on “Island facing the challenges of climate change”. The association explained the point of view of an environmental protection association on environmental law applicable to St. Barthelemy. We presented in particular the conclusions of the report “Environmental law of Saint-Barthélemy in 2015: analysis and prospects of modernization” made at the request of the association by two lawyers specialized in environmental law.
Economic solidarity
The afternoon was devoted to three interventions on the theme “Solidarity and economic vulnerability”. By videoconference, Richard Ouellet, a professor at Laval University in Quebec City, spoke about the place given to Caribbean economic development in the transatlantic trade agreements. He was followed by Jean-Michel Salmon, economist and lecturer at the Univerité des Antilles on the theme: “The Brexit Negotiations and Post 2020 Perspectives on EU and UK Support for Regional Integration in the Caribbean”. Then came Isabelle Vestris, lecturer at the Univerité des Antilles on “Solidarity issues in Migration management in America-Caribbean-Europe”. The conclusion of the conference went to Jean-Bernard Nilam, ambassador delegated to regional cooperation in the French West Indies & Guiana area.