The public consultations, to be held throughout the nine OECS Member States over the next year, will give OECS nationals their opportunity to help shape the proposed economic union by making their input into a draft OECS Economic Union Treaty.

“This is therefore a wake up call to get our act together, to integrate and become more competitive. We either swim together or drown one by one. Time is not on our side,” Prime Minister Skerrit said.

OECS Director General Dr. Len Ishmael used the ceremony to reflect on the emergence of the OECS model of integration over almost three decades, and the greater leverage, meaningful institutions and vital services it has brought the region, despite their small sizes. She listed among the array of successful OECS institutions, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority, Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority – one of only two multi-island telecoms regulatory bodies in the world, the Pharmaceutical Procurement Service - which, through joint purchases saves Member States over EC$ three million a year, and joint overseas missions in Ottawa, Brussels and Geneva. 

Dr. Ishmael however said ongoing challenges, many related to small size, point to the need to proceed to further strengthen the integration process at this time.  She said the OECS needs the economic union to, among other things, respond to globalization and multi-lateral globalization; to provide a larger domestic market, greater access to technology and capital and greater freedom of movement of different types of labour; and to allow the OECS to pursue its strategic interests.

Sir Dwight added his voice to highlighting the successes recorded to date by OECS cooperation, identifying as an example a soon to be released publication of the World Bank which lists three OECS institutions – the Central Bank, Supreme Court and Pharmaceutical Procurement Services on a list of cutting edge international success stories.  But he warned that despite these successes, the OECS has not tapped the full potential of the integration arrangement, due to lack of administrative and technical capacity; lack of coordination in critical areas and the falling behind of appropriate political arrangements to facilitate the changing circumstances.  These issues, he said are addressed in the draft economic union treaty and he urged the region to discuss them fully over the coming year.

Among the key measures proposed in the draft Economic Union treaty is the transferring of legislative responsibility from national Parliaments to the OECS Authority in agreed areas to ensure that decisions taken in those areas are binding and automatically enforceable in Member States without having to be referred back to national parliaments.  This pooling of sovereignties will cover the areas of common market and customs union, monetary policy, trade policy, maritime jurisdiction and maritime boundaries, and civil aviation.

The draft Treaty also proposes a governance structure for the new Economic Union which includes two new organs – a Regional Assembly consisting of members of national parliaments, and a Commission which represents an expanded and enhanced Secretariat.  The other Organs in the proposed structure are the OECS Authority, comprising Heads of Government, the Economic Affairs Council, the Monetary Council, and Ministerial Councils. 

The OECS Member States are Antigua/Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.