Leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are seeking a meeting with European officials in Brussels amid continuing international concerns about Citizenship by Investment programmes.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said during a press conference that discussions were being coordinated with the European Commission, with a meeting tentatively being considered for later in September.
“In respect to your first question, we are coordinating that visit with the European Commission…,” he told reporters.
A precise date has not yet been finalised.
Skerrit said he was expected to hold further telephone discussions with the OECS leadership and the organisation’s secretary-general to advance preparations.
He praised the European Commission for what he described as a respectful approach to the discussions.
“They have been very respectful, I must say, and I believe that they understand and appreciate the importance of the CBI program to our economies. So they’re very clear on this,” Skerrit stated.
He continued, “And the European Union is very understanding and appreciative of the importance [of the] programme to us. So they’ve approached it from that perspective, and we’re very grateful to them for that.”
According to Skerrit, European officials understand the importance of Citizenship by Investment revenue to the economies of participating Caribbean states, although they continue to have concerns about the programmes.
He said the OECS governments were prepared to engage the European Union and address those concerns.
Dominica and other CBI jurisdictions have introduced legislative, administrative and due-diligence reforms in recent years amid pressure from the European Union, United Kingdom and United States.
