The organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

Abstract

This chapter looks at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and at its institutional evolution. The 1981 original agreement was not conceived as a platform for a political or economic union, and consequently did not commit its Member States to achieving such a union in time. By the year 2000, however, OECS states began to explore the fundamentals of some form of economic union, as well as a closer integration in other policy areas. In January 2011, this vision became a reality, with the entry into force of the 2011 Revised Treaty of Basseterre, which transformed the structure and operation of the union into a modern regional trade agreement (RTA), which may be viewed as a variant of the Treaty of the European Union.