WATCH: PM Browne says CIP governments to meet today to discuss official response to EU ultimatum

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that countries operating citizenship by investment programmes (CIP) will meet today (Friday) to craft a unified official response to the European Union, as they face crackdown by EU officials of the programme.

Browne made the disclosure while in Dominica, during a ceremony marking the handover of the chairmanship of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s (ECCB) Monetary Council, stating that the new Visa Suspension Mechanism would cause “irreparable harm…to the economies of the OECS and the welfare of its citizens.”

The meeting follows a letter dated June 25 from European Commissioner Magnus Brunner, addressed to Browne, formally requesting that Antigua and Barbuda phase out its CBI programme by June 1, 2028.

Brunner argued that the revised visa suspension mechanism adopted by the EU on December 31, 2025, under which the mere operation of a citizenship by investment programme, regardless of how it is managed, now stands as a basis for suspending visa-free access.

Under the revised EU rules, a country can have its visa-free access suspended for operating what the regulation calls an investor citizenship scheme, defined as one granting citizenship “in exchange for pre-determined payments or investments” without a genuine link to the country concerned.

The regulation states that the EU’s concern rests on a perceived lack of adequate security checks, vetting and due diligence in such schemes, citing risks including money laundering and corruption.

A first suspension under the mechanism runs for 12 months and can be extended by a further 24 months if the concerns are not addressed.