On Wednesday the United Kingdom government triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, launching the two-year negotiation period preceding Britain’s exit from the European Union.

With that, the fate of the Virgin Islands’ access to the EU marketplace and other rights falls firmly into the hands of international dealmakers in London and Brussels.

However, VI officials have not been content to watch from the sidelines: Instead, they are looking to an international organisation as a possible channel to tap into European privileges come 2019.

On March 14, Benito Wheatley, the VI’s EU representative, met with Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes, the secretary general of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, to discuss the possibility of a future relationship between the territory and his organisation.

Mr. Wheatley argued that joining the ACP Group’s regional arm — the Caribbean Forum, or CARIFORUM, for short — is the territory’s best chance at preserving valued EU ties in the wake of the UK’s impending departure.

“[Premier Dr. Orlando Smith] clearly indicated to UK ministers that the BVI would like to maintain a relationship with the EU, and that the ACP, and specifically CARIFORUM, is the most logical alternative,” he said in a press release.

The premier could not be reached for comment by this issue’s press deadline.

See the March 30, 2017 edition for full coverage.

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