Antigua and Barbuda will continue operating its Citizenship by Investment Programme even if the European Union follows through on its threat to revoke visa-free access for the country’s passport holders, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday, describing the initiative as too important to the country’s economy to abandon.

Browne said the government remains hopeful that negotiations with European officials will preserve the existing travel arrangements but acknowledged that Antigua and Barbuda must also prepare for the possibility that visa-free access could be withdrawn before the end of the year.

“We can anticipate that, despite our best efforts, these visa-free arrangements may be discontinued,” Browne said during his weekly Pointe FM programme. “What I will say here, under my leadership and certainly under the Labour Party’s governance of this country, with or without those visa-free arrangements, our CIP programme continues. It is too important a source of non-tax revenue to give it up.”

The prime minister said the European Union has indicated it could suspend visa-free access for Antigua and Barbuda and other countries operating citizenship by investment programmes, although no final decision has been made.

“The European Union has threatened that they could withdraw their visa-free access, potentially by the end of the year. We don’t know for sure they will, but we’re trying to have a high-level engagement with them to see if we can actually reconsider,” Browne said.

He said Antigua and Barbuda has proposed that the European Union adopt an electronic travel authorization system for travellers from countries with citizenship by investment programmes rather than eliminating visa-free access altogether.

“We have the view that an electronic travel authorization should be sufficient,” Browne said. “We think that it’s a sensible thing to do to maintain the good relations that we’ve had over the years and not to throw the baby out with the bath water.”

Browne noted that Ireland has already ended visa-free travel arrangements for Antigua and Barbuda and said the government is seeking discussions with European officials before any broader action is taken.

He defended the country’s citizenship by investment programme, arguing that it has been significantly strengthened in recent years and does not pose the security risks alleged by some European governments.

“We are pretty sure that we have strengthened our programme and that it does not represent any significant risk to any country,” Browne said. “We do accept that you have the residual risk in which from time to time you may end up with one or two crooks. Nothing is foolproof.”

The prime minister argued that investment migration programmes operated by larger countries have also been exploited by criminals, pointing to the United States’ EB-5 programme and Canada’s former investor immigration programme.

“Even the EB-5 programme in the United States, they’ve had a lot of crooks. I mean the one in Canada too. But they keep pointing fingers at us as though they are not fallible and as though their programmes have not attracted crooks too,” Browne said.

Browne said Antigua and Barbuda’s programme is administered independently and insisted political officials do not interfere with due diligence decisions.

“I’ve never intervened in the granting of any citizenship for anyone for the 12 years that I’ve governed this country. I’ve never once overturned any case that was actually rejected by the CIU. We have allowed the unit and the board to operate independently,” he said.

He maintained that Antigua and Barbuda’s due diligence standards compare favourably with those of larger countries and argued that the country’s small size makes it more difficult for criminals to evade authorities.

“In our countries, I can say definitively in the case of Antigua and Barbuda, our programme is run with integrity,” Browne said. “I would say better integrity than those large countries who are pointing fingers at us.”

The prime minister said the government remains committed to working with the European Union to address its concerns and is prepared to adopt additional safeguards, including biometric screening, if necessary.

“We have said to them, you run investment immigration programmes; any initiative that you have in place, we’ll put in place,” Browne said. “The only thing that I think is outstanding right now… is the issue of biometrics.”

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda Intends to Maintain Citizenship by Investment Programme Even if EU Ends Visa-Free Access.