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May 27 - Interview With Sir Graham Watson, Head Of Gibraltar House In Brussels

Former Liberal Democrat MEP, who represented Gibraltar in the European Parliament, has been working with the Gibraltar Government to make the Rock’s voice heard in Brussels.

Sir Graham Watson has been the EU Counsel to the Government of Gibraltar for the past year, working together with lawyer Daniel D’amato, in Gibraltar House in Brussels.

Sir Graham said: “Having served Gibraltar for 10 years as an MEP, and serving Gibraltar now in a completely different role, I have begun to see and appreciate another side of Gibraltar, and that has given be great personal satisfaction.”

YGTV caught up with Sir Graham Watson during a recent trip to Brussels to find out what it is he does on behalf of the Government of Gibraltar.

YGTV: How has this past year been for you in terms of your role and how have you been lobbying on behalf of Gibraltar?

Sir Graham: It’s been a very busy area, we’ve had to set up the office, not just physically in the sense of purchasing and refurbishing a building, but also in the sense of getting the right systems in place to do a lot of the monitoring of European Legislation that we do here. By this I mean making sure that when we need access to Members of the European Parliament or officials at the European Council or Commission, that we can get that access. That they know who we are and they recognise our credentials and that through that very fact, they gain a knowledge of Gibraltar - a knowledge which they would not have had if it was simply the United Kingdom’s permanent representation representing Gibraltar here.

YGTV: How easy has it been to have Gibraltar’s voice heard in the EU Commission and in Parliament in Brussels?

Sir Graham: It is never easy and there are still hurdles to overcome, but I think we have made a good start. At the reception we held to mark the first anniversary of setting up Gibraltar House, we had lots of people who know who we are and who come along and support our events. These are people, who in some way or another, become ambassadors for Gibraltar. We chose, under the Deputy Chief Minister’s guidance, a model whereby we bring in two interns three times a year, and these are young people often fresh out of university, sometimes coming from another internship, who normally know nothing about Gibraltar when they arrive but when they leave four months later they already have the knowledge and hopefully the sympathy for Gibraltar. 

YGTV: Would you say the presence of Gibraltar House in Brussels has helped to get Gibraltar’s message across the city?

Sir Graham: Absolutely. Brussels, in many ways, is a rather small city, it’s like Washington compared to New York. It’s not London in any way. It is a city which is essentially a city for government and word of mouth spreads very quickly. Daniel and I have worked very hard to bring young parliamentary assistants, assistants to young MEPs down to Gibraltar so that they can actually see for themselves the challenges that Gibraltar faces. These people come back impressed by the sheer physical presence of the Rock to say nothing of the community in Gibraltar, and word of mouth goes around.

I think already, within a year, Gibraltar has been put on the map and I think what we have to do now is to build on that in a more structured and coherent way to make sure we leave no stone unturned in our quest to have Gibraltar’s issues properly understood. 

YGTV: With regards to the EU Referendum, the majority of Gibraltarians and the Government of Gibraltar are choosing to vote to remain in the European Union. How has this been received by others in Brussels?

Sir Graham Watson: I think in a strange way the referendum has provided a good opportunity for us to profile Gibraltar. Not only because the opinion polls suggest that a very large number of people in Gibraltar will vote to stay in, but also because people recognise that should the UK vote to leave the European Union, the impact of this could be felt first and foremost in Gibraltar.

It has given us the opportunity to highlight the difficulties that Gibraltar faces, in having to, if I a may borrow a phrase from a Canadian Prime Minister in having to live next to the United States of America, the difficulty that Gibraltar faces sharing a bed with an elephant, which is what Spain is.

YGTV: Has this year been different for the Gibraltar delegation in comparison to other years? Usually Spain is the primary concern, whereas this year it has been the EU Referendum. Has this affected the lobbying in any way? 

Sir Graham: We’ve built on what we’ve done before, but of course, we have also used Gibraltar’s six Members of the European Parliament, and although they don’t all share the Gibraltar Government’s line on the future of the European Union, they are working to defend Gibraltar’s interests. I think it’s a question of using the opportunities and the resources that we have to be able to maximise the impact of a rather small establishment of staff here, to nonetheless have a big effect. 

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