WILLEMSTAD – The treaty establishing Curaçao's associate membership in the Caribbean Community will apply exclusively to Curaçao within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, according to the official explanatory memorandum accompanying the agreement.
The document makes clear that the treaty's territorial application is limited to Curaçao, despite being concluded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the island's behalf.
Article II of the treaty establishes this limitation.
As a result, the agreement does not automatically extend CARICOM associate membership rights or obligations to Aruba, Sint Maarten or the European Netherlands.
Separate Status Within the Kingdom
Curaçao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and exercises autonomous responsibilities in various areas of domestic government.
The Kingdom is responsible for concluding the treaty on Curaçao's behalf, but the agreement is intended specifically to support Curaçao's regional cooperation.
The memorandum explains that the membership arrangement allows Curaçao to participate in CARICOM programs and discussions concerning matters within its autonomous responsibilities.
These include economic development, education, public health, culture and other areas of regional cooperation.
However, Curaçao will not have voting rights in CARICOM's principal decision-making bodies.
It will also be excluded from the Council for Foreign and Community Relations, which is reserved for full CARICOM member states.
Longstanding Regional Ambition
The memorandum reveals that Curaçao's ambition to establish a closer formal relationship with CARICOM predates the country's current constitutional status.
According to the document, the desire for associate membership existed during the period of the former Netherlands Antilles.
Curaçao formally renewed the initiative in 2023.
Negotiations were subsequently conducted by a Curaçao delegation under the responsibility of Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas.
The talks were completed within several months, and Pisas signed the agreement in Grand Anse, Grenada, on July 28, 2024.
The government considers the agreement an important component of its regionalization policy and its 2025–2029 government program.
Rights and Responsibilities Remain Specific to Curaçao
The memorandum also states that, in the government's assessment, the treaty does not contain provisions that directly grant enforceable rights to individuals or impose obligations on them under Articles 93 and 94 of the Dutch Constitution.
Instead, the agreement establishes rights and obligations between the parties to the treaty.
Certain provisions nevertheless concern practical matters, including access to CARICOM Secretariat vacancies for eligible Curaçao residents and participation in regional technical arrangements.
The territorial limitation is important because it confirms that Curaçao's CARICOM relationship is a country-specific arrangement within the Kingdom.
The agreement therefore strengthens Curaçao's institutional links with the Caribbean Community without changing the CARICOM status of the Kingdom's other constituent countries.