EU gives Eastern Caribbean citizenship programmes until 2028 to close or lose visa-free access
Leaders including St Lucia's Philip Pierre say Brussels would not budge at talks in New York, despite security upgrades to programmes run by St Kitts and Nevis and its neighbours.
NEW YORK, United States. Eastern Caribbean governments that sell citizenship to wealthy foreigners say they have failed to persuade the European Union that recent security upgrades make their Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes safe, and that the EU has given them until 2028 to shut them down or lose visa-free travel for their citizens.
St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St Lucia, Dominica and Grenada operate the programmes. The new administration in St Vincent has also announced plans to join them.
The two sides met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Reports say the EU is not budging on its view that the smaller islands lack the ability to scrutinise applicants' backgrounds properly.
"The Europeans are adamant," said St Lucia's Prime Minister Philip Pierre. "There were some people who thought that that could be negotiated. But the guy was clear. He said, once you have a programme, that's it. So, it's a very difficult proposition that we have. We're going to work with them to see if we can come to a solution."
The meeting involved Mr Pierre, Antigua's Prime Minister Gaston Browne, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Timothy Antoine, OECS Director General Dr Didacus Jules and other officials.
An economic lifeline
The participating nations say they turned to selling citizenship to make up for lost duty-free trade revenue within CARICOM, the collapse of the regional banana and sugar export industries and other shortfalls.
Officials acknowledge that a few undesirables have paid the minimum $100,000 for a passport, but say there have been no large-scale security breaches allowing new citizens to use local passports to travel visa-free to the Schengen Area.
Governments still plan to send a technical delegation to Europe in October for further talks. Mr Pierre and other heads of government have described the programmes as an economic lifeline as tourism revenues fluctuate and oil prices rise.
Before the New York meeting, Mr Pierre said St Lucia had no intention of stopping its programme. "We will do all we can to strengthen the programme," he said. "It's a programme that we would not like to lose because it has done quite a bit for our country."
