Montserrat to automatically be included in OECS economic union treaty
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| Published on Monday, November 23, 2009 |
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THE VALLEY, Anguilla -- Montserrat will not have to negotiate its place in the establishment of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Economic Union Treaty says Chief Minister Reuben Meade.
During Wednesday evening’s opening of the 50th Meeting of the OECS Authority on Anguilla, Meade declared it would be a “travesty if in reshaping the Treaty of Basseterre, Montserrat...is asked to choose whether we would be welcome as an equal partner within the OECS Economic Union.”
“We do not wish to negotiate for our rights of belonging neither should we retreat to a choice of being included or being left out in the cold. Montserrat insists that all full members should automatically be part of the new body without seeking permission from those on whose colonial doorsteps we continue to loiter.”
At the conclusion of the meetings on Friday, the chief minister confirmed that clarification had been sought and received on Montserrat’s position, as the OECS moves to establish an economic union. It is expected that a treaty will be signed in December and go into effect in June 2010.
The OECS Economic Treaty is intended to further cement the integration of the member states, which include Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Montserrat was one of the founding members of the OECS when it was established with the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre in 1981.
The draft treaty includes the process of removing barriers to trade between national markets in goods, services, movement of capital and labour forces, which will transform the islands into a single financial and economic space.
Eleven sectors have been listed in the treaty for joint action. They include civil aviation, agriculture, tourism, education, environmental sustainability, marine, disaster response and telecommunications.
One major purpose of an integrated Economic Union for OECS member states is that they will stand as one unit on the international stage. Already the OECS is receiving global attention because of its successful establishment and functioning of the Eastern Caribbean Aviation Authority (ECCAA), the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ECTEL), the Pharmaceutical Procurement System (PPS), and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB). | | | | Reads : 623 | | | |
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