The cooperation between Jamaica and the European Union has been in place for thirty years, beginning in 1975 with the signature of the first Lomé Convention. The Fourth Lomé Convention expired in 2000 and the Cotonou Agreement, a new partnership agreement for political and economic cooperation between the fifteen EU Member States and 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, was signed in June 2000. These agreements have over the years formed the basis of EU-ACP cooperation. 

Successive five-year National Indicative Programmes, embracing a number of key projects in areas essential to the country’s human and economic development, constitute the bulk of EU aid. The current Country Strategy Paper (CSP) presents the framework that will govern European Commission assistance to Jamaica for the period 2001-2007. The government’s national development strategy is based on achieving sustained economic growth in order to create employment and reduce levels of poverty. The GOJ is committed to a strategy of creating a stable macroeconomic environment, promoting export-led growth and private sector development and ensuring the sustainability of economic development. Supporting the government strategy, the EC’s focus is on poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, macro economic support, private sector development and support to the transport sector. 

Total financial assistance to Jamaica from the European Union since the beginning of the Lomé Convention in 1975 is estimated at 666 million euro, an amount which does not include bilateral cooperation by EU member states, benefits of regional programmes or of the Lomé trade preferences or protocols.

Apart from EDF funding, other instruments of EU co-operation in Jamaica have contributed significantly to Jamaica’s development. Notably there have been projects funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), activities financed under the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) for the Caribbean, STABEX, SYSMIN and Budget-line funding from the Budget of the European Commission, with a special focus on the Banana Support Programme.