Jul 20 - Government Of Gibraltar Commences Assessment Of Gibraltar's EU Position

The Government has started a detailed assessment of every area of Government business in order to determine the impact of not having access to membership of the European Union and in order to properly assess the consequences of an exit.

The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has written to all Ministers asking them to carefully look at every sphere of their Ministerial responsibility and to report back to him and to the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia by the end of August.

This follows the agreement with the new Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to provide input from Gibraltar into the same exercise that is taking place in the United Kingdom.

A spokesman for No 6 said the assessment will identify the areas which require specific negotiation in the process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. It will provide the best possible level of feedback to the UK in the process of Gibraltar being “fully involved”. It will also identify the new business opportunities that will become available for Gibraltar.

It is now known that the UK Government does not intend to invoke the formal Article 50 notice immediately. This will allow more time for the emergence of a coherent UK negotiating position, taking into consideration the positions of Scotland and Gibraltar amongst others, which will then be taken forward with the European Union. The two year clock for the conclusion of the UK-EU negotiations does not start to tick until the formal notice has been presented. It is important to remember that nothing will change until the withdrawal package has been agreed and comes into force at some point in the future.

The Government says it is exploring all the options available for Gibraltar in the aftermath of the referendum result. This work will continue in parallel to the new exercise which has now began.

There will also be full consultation with each industry sector, with the Trade Unions and with the public as part of this process. Further details will be made available shortly.

The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Garcia, whose office is coordinating this work as it relates to European Affairs, said:

"This is part of the work we need to do to keep ALL our options open and to ensure that we emerge from the aftermath of the effect of the EU Referendum stronger than ever. Our future participation in the EU must be carefully and properly calibrated and is one which we expect we will be able to agree with the United Kingdom and the EU Institutions. Industry sectors and Trade Union views will be ongoing also now via different departments. We are also looking at a formula to allow for structured cooperation with the Opposition."

{fcomment}