What Is the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
Let me explain to you what the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is—it's an intergovernmental organization that drives economic integration and trade cooperation among its 11 member states in the Eastern Caribbean.
Key Takeaways
You should know that the OECS forms an economic union with 11 member states in the Eastern Caribbean. There are seven protocol members who get the full advantages like free movement of people, capital, and goods, and four associate members. Also, eight of these members share the Eastern Caribbean Dollar as their currency.
Understanding the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
The OECS started on June 18, 1981, when the original seven members signed the Treaty of Basseterre in St. Kitts and Nevis—that's where the name comes from. In 2010, they revised this treaty to create an economic union, which means they removed or reduced trade and customs barriers, allowing goods, people, and capital to move more freely.
As a single market and customs union, the OECS enables free movement of goods, people, and capital. The organization also unifies monetary policy, government taxes, and revenue approaches, while harmonizing strategies for trade, health, education, the environment, agriculture, tourism, and energy.
Eight members use a common currency, the Eastern Caribbean Dollar: that's Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and The Grenadines. The British Virgin Islands stick with the United States dollar, and Martinique and Guadeloupe, being French overseas departments, use the euro.
Geographically, these islands create a near-continuous archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, part of the Lesser Antilles.
Protocol Members of the OECS
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Commonwealth of Dominica
- Grenada
- Montserrat
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- St. Vincent and The Grenadines
Associate Members of the OECS
- The British Virgin Islands
- Anguilla
- Martinique
- Guadeloupe
Benefits of OECS Membership
If you're a citizen of a protocol member state, you can travel and work across borders without restrictions. You need a passport, but alternatives like a driver's license, national ID card, voter registration card, or social security card work too. You don't have to prove financial support to live in another protocol state, and you can stay and work there indefinitely.
All protocol members are part of the larger Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and its Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) initiative. OECS policies are set up to match with CSME participation. Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands are associate members of CARICOM as well.
Beyond the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank that handles monetary policy and the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, the OECS has the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority. There's also the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority regulating telecom in the region.
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