Meetings in Brussels
In late January 2025, CEC Chair Melanie Chen had various meetings in Brussels including with the Caribbean Group of Ambassadors to the EU, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) and European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM).
Meeting with Caribbean Group of Ambassadors to EU
Overview and introduction of CEC was given to the Ambassadors.
Discussed key initial priorities of:
- Technical capacity rollout
- Energy efficiency
With President von der Leyen’s upcoming visit to the Caricom Heads meeting in Feb 2025 in Barbados, the CEC visit to Brussels was seen as very timely.
Meeting with DG TAX UD
It was discussed that Trinidad & Tobago is in the process of implementing a robust national MRV system. The Ministry of Planning which has responsibility for the Environmental Agency (EMA) has developed a policy for the MRV system in the form of mandatory rules which is currently at the Attorney General’s Office for the drafting of the necessary legislation which will thereafter be operationalised by the EMA. This should help with the harmonisation of the implementation of CBAM.
It was also discussed that CEC will circulate the link to the Third Countries Operators Portal to encourage their appropriate members to use the Portal which has been operational since January 2025.