St Vincent & the Grenadines Prime Minister Gonsalves condemns ‘bullying’ tactics of EU towards citizenship by investment

St. Vincent & the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has condemned the “bullying” tactics adopted by the European Union (EU) with regards to the Citizenship by Investment program (CBI), used by several Caribbean countries to spur their economic development.

Gonsalves has in the past distanced the St. Vincent & the Grenadines from the CBI, through which foreign investors are given citizenship of a particular Caribbean country in return for making a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of the particular country.

Antigua & Barbuda; Dominica; Grenada; St. Lucia and St. Kitts & Nevis are among Caribbean countries with CBIs and Gonsalves, speaking in Parliament said the European Union’s approach to the region’s initiative is tantamount to “bullying”.

Gonsalves was making his contribution to the debate on the International Business Companies (Amendment and Consolidated) (Amendment) Bill, 2018, in which he accused the EU of bullying small states into enforcing its tax policy.

“We can have our argument internally but I am raising the larger question on which we must all be united in this honorable house and in this nation and in the Caribbean,” said the prime minister.

Gonsalves expressed his “controlled anger” at the EU’s action and called for a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) response, saying that while member states had acted individually, it was not too late for a regional response.

The creation of such Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programs has been mainly driven by the the Caribbean governments concerned need to find new ways to raise revenue because of their relatively limited capacity to compete globally. -(CMC)