Regional integration or cooperation is both consensus and process. Consensus is characterised by a common vision, shared by the Member States of a regional entity, of joining together to defend their common interests. Process determines the various joint actions identified within the institution and executed over time to resolve inter-State problems. Consensus and process are linked to the notion of interdependence of political actors. Faced with multiple realities, States agree to strategically join forces in pursuit of political objectives, centred on collective well-being, through cooperation, which also serves as a safety valve for the present and future.

This constitutes one of the main objectives of functional cooperation, which will once and for all cross the frontier of regional and international politics. Functional cooperation can be considered at two levels, the regional level and the wider international level.

In the regional arena, functional cooperation is the pooling of a number of capabilities and resources belonging to each State or actor involved in the cooperation process for the benefit of the organisation’s members. Indeed, States or actors that are quite diverse in terms of population and area, as well as natural, economic and financial resources, situated at almost the same latitude, join together with the objective of sharing, engaging in political dialogue and defending their common interests. Such is the case of the Greater Caribbean, which constitutes a regional cooperation zone.

In this regard, it should be added that functional cooperation is based on a number of agreements centred on various issues of common interest, as identified by the organisation’s Member States. For example, for some time now, the ACS has focused its activities on four main areas of cooperation, namely sustainable tourism, trade, natural disasters and transport, together with the issue of the Caribbean Sea, which is itself defined as the patrimony of the people of the Greater Caribbean.

Consequently, the members of the organisation are in the process of signing and ratifying a number of agreements, protocols and convention in those core areas, such as the Agreement for Regional Cooperation on Natural Disasters, the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities, the Convention Establishing the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Greater Caribbean, the Protocol to the Convention Establishing the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Greater Caribbean and the Air Transport Agreement. Once all these legal instruments have come into force, which is expected to occur in the near future, a political and legal framework for regional cooperation will have been effectively instituted in the Greater Caribbean.

In addition, functional cooperation can also imply seeking out new opportunities, as well as financial, technical and technological resources for the region, at the international level. In this regard, the Association is actively restructuring the Special Fund, making it a true instrument of cooperation that is equipped to define viable cooperation policies and having at its disposal the financial resources required to implement projects and programmes for the benefit of the Member States and Associate Members.

Finally, functional cooperation refers to all the activities undertaken by a regional organisation to achieve a specific objective. In the case of the ACS, mention can be made of the issue of the Caribbean Sea, which the members of the Association are striving to have recognised as a special area in the context of sustainable development, possibly at the next session of the UN General Assembly. As specified in the last ACS report to the UN, this sea is special for the good and simple reason that it covers an area of 3.2 million km2, the longest in its category worldwide after the Mediterranean, but having more adjoining countries and persons inhabiting its coasts. The inhabitants of the Greater Caribbean, comprising more than 116 million persons, are united by a common dependence on two products of the marine ecosystem of this sea: tourism and fishing. Indeed, more than 1.5 million of the region’s inhabitants, without counting their dependents, rely on fishing activities for their daily subsistence. Environmental pollution endangers the existence of thousands, thereby hindering the developmental efforts of the people of this region. However, recognising this sea as a special area will better equip the countries of the region to more adequately protect, safeguard and defend it.

Functional cooperation is an inescapable political reality. It allows neighbouring States to consolidate their political interests in pursuit of objectives that would benefit an entire region. Particularly in the Greater Caribbean Cooperation Zone, it has become a necessity, as well as a model of collective well-being encompassing the political, economic, cultural and environmental spheres.

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Dr Watson Denis is the Political Advisor of the Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean States. The opinions expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Comments and reactions can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org

6 August 2008