Forget the hard border in Ireland, thousands of miles away from Europe, Brexit is set to cause serious problems for the island of Anguilla.
On the tiny Caribbean island of Anguilla, halfway round the world from the machinations being conducted in the British and European Parliaments, Brexit is raising concerns about the continued freedom of movement of goods, services, and people. There are worries in Britain’s other Caribbean Overseas Territories like the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands about Brexit, but none of these places face the same challenges as Anguilla, relying as closely as it does on its larger neighbour – a single island that is part of two other EU states.
Anguilla is a non-sovereign territory and is constitutionally linked to the UK. It is possibly the only nation to have fought to retain its colonial status. Through this relationship, the island is an associate member state of the EU, and therefore EU legislation only applies to the territory where specifically provided. Anguilla has direct borders with France and Holland, both EU member states. The southern area of Sint Maarten is one of the four kingdoms that make up the Netherlands, while Saint-Martin in the northern part is classified as an Outermost Region of France or collectivité. Outermost Regions are deemed to be an integral part of the EU and as such it is part of metropolitan France. The jointly-held island is a mere 5 miles (or 8 kilometres) from Anguilla. Historically the border between the two territories has been extremely porous with people from Anguilla travelling to Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin to shop, conduct business, or use its medical facilities.
The theoretical argument is that Anguilla lies outside the EU VAT and Schengen areas (which also do not apply to Saint-Martin), so the sea border with its nearest neighbour is already an external border of the EU, but from a practical standpoint this is not necessarily true.
Freedom of movement
Brexit has raised concerns about the freedom of movement of goods, services, and the citizens of the Overseas Territories will be stripped of an important element of their citizenship, without having been given the opportunity to agree to it. These changes may well give rise to legal challenges in the future.
Because the island of Anguilla has a direct border with the French side of Saint-Martin, Brexit will give rise to a myriad of issues relating to free movement of goods and services between the two territories, many of which are essential. Anguilla is heavily dependent upon Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin for international access, medical services, imports, exports, delivery of mail and a number of other goods and services.
Further, free movement of goods and people between the three administrations is a historical mainstay and people on these islands have very close family ties. While according to migration profiles for Anguilla, immigration from Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin is nominal, many Anguillian nationals currently live in the EU or EU dependencies. The reciprocal arrangements that are currently in place will be withdrawn post-Brexit and the rights of these persons must be taken into account and protected.
About 95% of visitors to Anguilla travel through Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin as the only international airport is located on the Dutch side of that island. Although 80% of the island’s tourists come from the United States, European visitors may be subjected to more restrictions on travelling, including the possibility that visas will be required after Brexit. Further, 90% of the island’s fuel used for essential services such as the generation of electricity and desalination of seawater, is transhipped through another Dutch island, Sint Eustatius.
Barriers for services must be avoided particularly as Anguilla is heavily dependent upon Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin for the provision of services which are not readily available within that island’s public services. The UK has restricted the number of Overseas Territory citizens who can get access to the UK’s National Health Service, and in the case of Anguilla this number is limited to four. Anguillans will therefore often make use of the healthcare facilities in Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin.
It is imperative that Anguilla protects its working relationship with Sint Maarten, as the closest international marine port and airport is located in that part of the island. Restricting access to these facilities will do serious damage to the welfare of the island and its future development should new tariffs, visa controls or other hurdles to the movement of goods, services and people be implemented.
Aid and funding
Around 80% of Anguilla’s economy is based on services, notably offshore finance and tourism, which rely on smooth cross-border flows. The EU’s European Development Fund (“EDF”) is Anguilla’s only source of significant development aid, but it does not observe the same criteria as the UK for international development. The UK regards Anguilla as ineligible for support from the Department for International Development (“DFID”) which has only provided the island with nominal assistance despite the fact that it has a lower GDP than other recipients of DFID funding. When the island loses access to the EDF, it will lose 36% of its developmental capital budget and, at present, no alternative funding has been made available to the territory by the UK government despite the fact that other British Overseas Territories have received assurances from the UK that their DFID funding will be increased to compensate for the loss of EU funding after Brexit.
A common solution
In the current chaos that is Brexit, those on Anguilla are hoping they will not be forgotten. It is imperative that Anguilla is treated with the same level of consideration that has been afforded to Gibraltar, another British Overseas Territory, or the Irish negotiations as each of these share borders with EU member states. As with each of these areas, it is crucial that the free movement of goods, services and people across the marine border between St Martin/Sant Maarten and Anguilla is maintained to ensure the prosperity of the territory and that of its neighbouring islands.
One solution could be to create a regional customs area in the form of a common travel area (“CTA”) similar to the one that exists between the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands and which was formed long before the UK and Ireland were members of the EU. Such an arrangement would reflect the deep-seated, historical ties to the region and allow free movement of the members’ nationals within the CTA. Should the government of the UK, France and Holland agree, there may well be scope to create a similar zone for Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin and Anguilla.
