§ 1. Mr. Anthony Steen (Totnes) (Con)If he will make an official visit to the British Virgin Islands to discuss the savings directive. [183354]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Bill Rammell)There are no plans for a Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministerial visit to the British Virgin Islands to discuss the EU savings directive, but my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General and I held meetings with BVI Ministers during their recent visit to the UK, at which we discussed this issue.
§ Mr. SteenWhy are the British Overseas Territories so disadvantaged with regard to the EU, when Britain is an EU member? They get none of the advantages, but all the disadvantages are thrown at them. What will the Minister tell the islands when the savings directive means that they will lose $40 million? That money will go to independent Caribbean islands. I am secretary of the all-party Caribbean parliamentary group. [Interruption.] I have yet to go to the British Virgin Islands, but what will be done when they lose $40 million a year because of the European directive?
§ Mr. RammellI do not believe that there is any evidence that it will be possible for the islands to sustain a loss on that scale. Whether or not the Caribbean overseas territories come under the ambit of the EU, it is manifestly in their interests to adopt the highest possible standards of international regulation and transparency. There is no evidence to suggest that businesses will relocate as a result of the directive. At a recent BVI financial services roadshow in the far east, there was much interest in doing business in the BVI. The directive was not mentioned once as a factor in location decisions.