Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, this week, called for a joint response from OECS countries to the European Union’s (EU) stance on citizenship programmes.
Last week, the EU announced that it was considering the removal of visa-free access to the Schengen Area – a zone of 26 European countries, including Italy, France and Spain – for countries that currently operate Citizenship by Investment Programmes (CIP).
“This represents a significant threat to our [Citizenship by Investment] CBI programmes and I’m of the view that we ought to come together as an OECS subregion and to have a démarche on the European Union” Browne said.
The announcement from the EU means countries including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia could be severely affected, as visa-free travel to the Schengen Area is one of the most attractive elements of their programmes.
