On the sidelines of this year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, top political leaders from across the Eastern Caribbean gathered Thursday for high-stakes discussions with a senior European Union official, centered on a contentious mandate to scrap regional citizenship-by-investment programs by 2028.
The European Commission formally issued the demand earlier, requiring all Eastern Caribbean nations that operate these programs to wind them down entirely by the June 2028 deadline. In response, regional officials organized the closed-door meeting with Magnus Brunner, the EU’s Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, to voice their shared position on the policy.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne was among the key regional leaders in attendance, alongside Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre. Both leaders stressed during the talks that citizenship-by-investment initiatives have long served as a critical lifeline of development funding for small island economies across the Eastern Caribbean. For these nations, revenue generated through the programs has supported critical infrastructure projects, public service expansions, and economic resilience efforts that would otherwise be difficult to fund through traditional tax streams.
The delegation called for ongoing, constructive negotiations to craft a transition plan that balances two competing sets of priorities: addressing the security concerns that the EU has cited to justify the phase-out, while also protecting the fragile economic interests of Eastern Caribbean states that rely on program revenue.
Other senior officials participating in the meeting included Timothy Antoine, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, and Didacus Jules, Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. According to an official statement released by the government of Saint Lucia following the talks, no binding agreement was reached, and no adjustment to the Commission’s proposed 2028 phase-out deadline was announced during the gathering. The discussion is expected to pave the way for future consultations between the two blocs as the deadline approaches.