Sir John was, throughout his political life, a towering figure in the regional integration movement, and will be remembered in particular for the significant role he played in the establishment and growth of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Sir John was a strong advocate for the islands of the Eastern Caribbean proceeding jointly to political independence.  The islands had experienced the benefits of working together through the West Indies Associated States (WISA) Council of Ministers which was established in 1966 following the demise of the West Indies Federation, and which grouped the Windward Islands of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Leeward Islands of Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla and Montserrat. When the islands opted to pursue independence separately, beginning in the 1970s, Sir John was at the forefront of new integration arrangements for the newly independent micro states, which eventually led to the creation of the OECS. 

Faced with the daunting task of conducting their own external affairs, including managing and financing overseas diplomatic representation, the governments of the independent and soon to be independent Eastern Caribbean islands turned to Mr. Compton, then Premier of St. Lucia, to chair a Committee to make recommendations on a model for joint overseas representation. 

The “Joint Overseas Representation Report” from Mr. Compton’s Committee went beyond recommendations on foreign affairs and proposed the restructuring of the existing WISA Council into a new organization with responsibility for other areas of functional cooperation among the member states.  That recommendation was adopted at a WISA Council meeting in St. Lucia in 1979 and received final ratification at a follow up meeting later that year at which the mandate was given for the drafting of a Treaty to establish the OECS.