ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Nov 3, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government has told the European Union it is prepared to “terminate” its Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI) and has proposed a transition period to 2030 to achieve that objective.
Under the CBI programme, Antigua and Barbuda grants citizenship to foreign investors in return for them making a substantial investment in the island’s socio-economic development.
The European Union had given Antigua and Barbuda and the other countries in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with a CBI programme a June 1, 2028 deadline to end the programme or risk losing visa free access to the Schengen area.
In an October 30 letter to Magnus Brunner, the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne acknowledged that Europe had given the island three options regarding the CBI.
“Antigua and Barbuda places great value on its partnership with the European Union and on the freedom of our people to travel to Europe. In that spirit the Government has weighed these options carefully, and I am pleased to advise that we have selected the third,” Browne wrote, saying that the island is prepared to “terminate” its CBI programme under certain conditions.
According to the letter, the third option open to Antigua and Barbuda is for it to terminate the programme “with a longer transition period.
“The country would confirm its intention to close its programme, but request a longer transition, specifying the period proposed for the Commission’s consideration, together with the support it would need to manage the transition and any other special requests”.
In the letter Prime Minister Browne is calling for a “macro-economic and social assessment of the programme termination.
“The assessment will examine the fiscal, financial, economic, social and legal consequences of closure and will be completed and shared with the European Commission by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
“We welcome the Commission’s agreement in principle that the impact of termination should be assessed and would value the technical assistance the Commission indicated it would provide, so that the assessment can be undertaken jointly,” Browne wrote.
He is also calling for a “package of budget and development support from the European Union” adding that on the basis of the assessments findings, St. John’s would “request a package of budget support and development assistance commensurate with the revenue, investment and employment that will be lost”.
Antigua and Barbuda said that it notes that the only support identified to date is the Global Gateway “which is broad in scope, and there is as yet no dedicated envelope for countries closing their programmes.
“We ask that such support be considered in preparation of the Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2034),” Browne wrote in his letter that also calls for a transition period to the end of 2030.
In the letter in which Prime Minister Browne made reference to statements by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) outlining the importance of the CBI “not only to Antigua and Barbuda, but to the Eastern Caribbean as a whole, the government is urging officials of both parties meet “to take these matters forward.
“Antigua and Barbuda is also working closely with its partners in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, so that the region may speak with one voice where possible.”
Browne said he remains confident “that working together, we can manage this transition in a way that strengthens the long and valued friendship between Antigua and Barbuda and the European Union”.
CMC/lk/ir/2026