Government's decision to push ahead and have Bermuda apply for associate membership of the Caribbean Community is certain to be met with mixed feelings.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome has stated that Government now feels it has satisfied all concerns over the application, which will now be debated in the House of Assembly on July 26.

Premier Jennifer Smith will bring a discussion paper to the House and the matter. It is not clear if that paper will be given to MPs on that day or beforehand. It would be unfair if MPs only received the paper on the day given the importance of the decision and the interest the public has shown in the issue.

That Government has decided to push ahead with the issue is no surprise; the Premier and her MPs have made it clear ever since she made the announcement that Bermuda would look into the question that it was in favour of it.

The real question is what benefits will accrue to Bermuda and whether the costs and obligations associated with membership justify them.

Mr. Bascome has reaffirmed that Bermuda would not join the Caribbean single common market, and nor would it allow a free flow of labour from other Caricom countries.

Equally, Caricom cannot speak for Bermuda on external affairs, since the Island remains a British overseas territory.

That is all to the good, although it begs the question of what incentive it gives to Bermuda to join at all, if it has opted out of most of the fundamental goals of the Community.

What is left is the opportunity for Bermuda to exchange views with Caribbean countries on a range of social, cultural and sporting issues and there may be some be benefit in this, along with some financial benefits stemming from the fact that some aid money and grants are specifically dedicated to Caricom organisations.

More generally, Bermuda inevitably suffers from some of the same problems as other small island nations. Exchanging lessons learned and different approaches to these problems may prove to be beneficial.

It is also said that Bermudian students will be able to pay reduced fees to attend the University of the West Indies.

But that's about it, apart from some will o'the wisp talk about Bermuda being the base for a regional stock exchange or the Bermuda College becoming a campus of UWI.

Few things are certain in life; but one is that the first annual fee you pay on joining a club or organisation will also be the lowest.

It may be that Bermuda will get $90,000 in annual benefits from Caricom membership. But as the costs of membership go up, as they will, it is difficult to imagine that the benefits the Island accrues will as well.

Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington is due on the Island this week to explain how Bermuda will gain from Caricom. It will be interesting to see if he, or the Caricom discussion paper, can show how the benefits will outweigh the costs.