Skerrit: Eastern Caribbean states to step up EU CBI talks

DOM767 reports that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit expects the Eastern Caribbean states that run citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programmes to deepen their talks with the European Union in the coming weeks. Brussels wants the programmes ended by 1 June 2028 and has warned that keeping them could put visa-free Schengen travel at risk. Our EU 2028 ultimatum guide, linked below, gives the background.

Skerrit said the islands want to discuss what closure would mean for public finances, including whether the EU would help replace lost revenue. "We continue to engage the European Union on this matter," he said. He pointed to reforms already made, such as tighter accountability rules and independent regulators set up in law, and said Dominica has its own regulatory framework.

BuzzDA adds that the states agreed to form a technical working group, with one member per state plus the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the OECS Commission. Only BuzzDA reports Skerrit's remark to DBS News that the region has "a couple of years to engage".

This is a statement of intent: no outcome has been announced, and we found no official government release. The same pressure applies to St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. As of 10 October 2026, Dominica's Economic Diversification Fund route starts at US$200,000 for a single applicant, with government fees extra. We covered the planned Brussels mission in September (linked below).