GASTON BROWNE FAVOURS OECS POLITICAL UNION

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, foresees an eventual political union of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States(OECS) - although he admits that it might not happen in his lifetime.

During his weekly radio programme, Prime Minister Browne asserted that the OECS is the hemisphere’s closest group to forming a political union, even if the outcome extends beyond his tenure.

59-year-old Browne made the preditction following his party’s resounding victory in the recent general election, which returned him to a fourth consecutive term in office with an increased majority at the helm of the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party(ABLP).

Antigua and Barbuda is a founding member of the OECS, which was established in 1981 with the Treaty of Basseterre signed in St Kitts and Nevis. The sub-regional intergovernmental organisation was set up to champion the interests of the then so-called Less Developed Countries(LDCs) of the wider CARICOM group. The larger countries - Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Guyana - were referred to as the MDCS(More Developed Countries). The original OECS treaty was revised in 2010 to establish the OECS Economic Union, enabling the free movement of people and goods.

The OECS countries also share a common currency, the Eastern Caribbean dollar(XCD), with monetary policy regulated by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank(ECCB). Governmental oversight is done through the East Caribbean Currency Union(ECCU), presently chaired by Prime Minister Browne.

They also have a joint judiciary, the East Caribbean Supreme Court(ECSC), and other collaborative initiatives.

The Antigua and Barbuda leader is also suggesting another attempt at a jointly-owned government airline to pick up from the failed Leeward Islands Air Transport(LIAT 1974 Ltd), which collapsed a few years ago.

FRAMEWORK

“We’re starting from now, not necessarily to drive a political union at this point, but to set the framework for one in the future so that future generations can take this thing to the next level,” he said.

Presently, Antigua and Barbuda, in collaboration with Nigerian investors, operates a recently started regional airline service, LIAT20, which currently fills the void left by the previous LIAT 1974Ltd.

Talk of an EU(European Union)-style arrangement has for some time been a background issue, especially regarding joint diplomatic representation and synchronised foreign policy. Although there is some coordination on critical foreign policy matters, the OECS member states differ on several key areas of international relations. Some member states retain diplomatic ties with China in support of that country’s ‘one China’ stance to include breakaway Taiwan, while others maintain direct links with Taiwan.

Recent major shifts in geopolitics, especially matters impacting the Caribbean and driven by the Trump administration in the United States, have brought the foreign relations issue into sharp focus.

Some observers argue that a harmonised foreign policy via a political union strengthens the status of the OECS, while others maintain that national diplomatic priorities should be paramount.

Montserrat is the only UK Overseas Territory in the Caribbean that’s a full and founding member of the OECS. Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands(BVI) are Associate Members. Cayman, Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands are not members.