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Feb 12 - Chief Minister Wants to Inspire the Next Generation with Trips to Brussels

brussels Today marked the last working day in the Chief Minister’s Brussels Trip. The Gibraltar delegation have had over 20 meetings in the space of 48 hours, a tightly packed schedule which included working lunches and dinners since they arrived. The Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia said that the recent trips to Brussels by concerned citizens had really made an impact and gave the Commission a different view point.

This month will see 3 very different groups from Gibraltar come to Brussels. The concerned citizens, the senior delegation from the Gibraltar Government and next week a mixed group representing the Unions and workers from both sides of the frontier, looking to present a document to the Commission that shows what the workers (those that travel across the frontier) have been going through in recent times.

The meetings continued today with the delegation getting together with UK representatives in Brussels as well as meetings with Catalan and Basque representatives. This trip has been used as a platform to keep pushing Gibraltar’s message in the EU, which is, not only are we compliant with all directives, but we are also entitled to our membership to the EU in its entirety.  

Yesterday the delegation was joined by John Rodriguez, Collector of Customs, who presented the Commission with Gibraltar’s detailed proposal for improvements at the frontier, taking in to account the EU inspection’s recommendations.

In a press conference today, Fabian Picardo talked about how important it was for Gibraltar to keep making its position known here in Brussels and how the government is considering options for more frequent visits to Brussels and maybe more permanent senior representation in the European Capital.

The Chief Minister also talked about how crucial it is that the future leaders of Gibraltar have the chance to visit the Capital and understand how big a part it plays in Gibraltar’s future. Reminiscing that he had visited Brussels over 20 years ago, he could see then that Brussels would always play a big part in the politics of Gibraltar.

Just like with the UN trips for students and the Washington Institute programme, the Chief Minister believes that regular visits to different institutions here in Brussels would help to inspire the next generation of leaders in Gibraltar.