MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — Abandoning diplomatic speak in an effort to explain what has been accomplished by regional heads of government over the last few days of meetings, Caricom chair and Prime Minister of Jamaica Dr Andrew Holness on Tuesday expressed impatience with the failure of the European Union (EU) to follow through on its Parliament’s recommendation that Jamaica and Barbados be removed from a high-risk money laundering list.

The recommendation was made last month but Holness, like his Caricom chair predecessor Mia Mottley, has expressed concern that implementation has lagged.

Reading from his prepared text during a press conference to wrap up the (49th) Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Holness said agenda items had included recent developments regarding the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) frameworks.

“While the European Commission has recommended to the European Parliament, via its Delegated Regulation of June 2025, that Jamaica and Barbados be delisted, this has not fully materialised as different groups in the Parliament, for reasons unrelated to the domestic situation in Barbados and Jamaica, have issued motions that will block positive action in this regard. We urge a reconsideration of this posture,” he said.

But towards the end of the briefing, as he sought to explain how the three days of talks would impact the lives of Jamaicans and citizens of other Caricom countries, Holness spoke plainly, explaining what his previous comment meant.

“Hidden in all of this is Caricom’s strident appeal to the European Union to exercise a greater discretion that countries that have complied — through great sacrifice, discomfort, and the cost to the people of a developing country — that greater discernment and consideration be given to our circumstances, and that we are not lumped in with everyone else, or having to wait for an extended period of time before relief can be given to us, and so that is what we were here doing today. It may not materialise tomorrow that you will have an easier banking system but, over time, it will,” said Holness.

The slow pace of Caricom agenda items over the years has left some questioning the effectiveness of the regional body and its relevance to local economies. On Wednesday, Holness conceded that matters being discussed may sometimes appear divorced from “bread and butter issues”. He sought to make the connection between the EU’s stance on the delisting and “being able to conduct banking transactions with ease and convenience for the average person”.

“The overbearing regulations are a great frustration, and they could easily conclude it is just the inefficiency of government… not understanding that there is a global architecture for anti-money laundering,” he said.

The Caricom chair stressed that heads of governments, “have to come together regionally to interface with these global bodies and lobby on your behalf so that the regulation requirements can be much more efficient and simpler for the average person to be able to interface with the financial system”.