UK OVERSEAS TERRITORIES CONSIDERING FULL CARICOM STATUS

Several of the UK Overseas Territories in the region are moving to deepen their relations with the grouping of Caribbean states called CARICOM(Caribbean Community).

Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands have announced their intention to further their involvement with the regional integration movement.

The Bermuda government has now circulated a 63-page consultation paper among its citizens to get their feedback on whether the territory should seek full CARICOM membership.

The territory is an Associate Member of the group along with the other UK OTs - Anguilla, BVI, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Montserrat is the only UK OT that’s a full CARICOM member.

For its full membership bid now under consideration, Bermuda is seeking special derogations from CARICOM where it says “participation is not possible under our constitutional framework”.

The territory has already received a ‘letter of entrustment’ from the UK, which clears the way for it to proceed with its request. However, there will be limitations to its involvement in CARICOM, especially on matters pertaining to foreign relations, which remain the remit of the UK.

Meanwhile, the British Virgin Islands is also accelerating its bid for full CARICOM membership, but with a specific opt-out. The BVI, currently an associate member of the grouping, says it will not sign on to the free movement component of the CARICOM treaty, which falls under the Single Market and Economy (CSME). The territory, which is also seeking full membership of the sub-regional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States(OECS), cites concerns over immigration control as a key factor.

Similar concerns about free movement have been expressed by the Turks and Caicos Islands in its wish to also become a full CARICOM member.

The territory is in the process of setting up a special committee to oversee local consultations and guide the negotiations with the CARICOM Secretariat. It’s aiming to have a formal presentation at the next CARICOM Heads of Government Summits in July.

As with the other UK Overseas Territories, any agreement for full CARICOM membership must be approved by the British government, which retains responsibility for external affairs, defence and security.

While no formal steps have yet been taken in that regard, Anguilla which is also a CARICOM associate member, has not completely ruled out eventually seeking full membership.

For the Cayman Islands, there has also been no formal indication of full CARICOM membership being placed on the priority agenda any time soon.

However, all CARICOM member states - full and associate members  - collaborate in a range of areas, including disaster preparedness and response, sharing public administration resources and expertise, and trade.

CARICOM, which started out as a grouping of former English-speaking Caribbean countries, has recently seen its base broaden with the inclusion of French and Dutch territories in the Caribbean.

Montserrat is presently the only UK Overseas Territory that has full membership status in the 15-member bloc. It became a full member in 1974, one year after the original Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed by 11 independent Caribbean countries.

On its website, the CARICOM Secretariat notes that in July 1991, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos  became Associated Members of CARICOM, followed by Anguilla in July 1999. The Cayman Islands became the fourth Associate Member of the regional grouping on 16 May 2002, and Bermuda the fifth Associate Member  on 2 July 2003.