The Government says it notes the recent report by the European Scrutiny Committee of the House of Commons regarding the draft EU Energy Taxation Directive.

A statement continued: “This report has been finalised with explicit reference being made to Gibraltar but with no input from the Government of Gibraltar. The Chief Minister is due to address the Committee in coming weeks and will clarify that the Committee's concern is unfounded. The ideas set out in the EU's draft mandate on this, the commercial aspects of a potential treaty between the UK and the EU on Gibraltar, should not be read as if they had any prospect of success in being included in any such future treaty. There is no question of the Gibraltar bunkering industry being in any way damaged by the arrangements that the Government would be prepared to agree to. For that reason, this aspect of this report is not realistic and the Chief Minister looks forward to discussing this and all other Gibraltar issues with the Committee in future.”

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said: "The concerns being raised here, no doubt in good faith, are unfounded. There is no question of our making any of our industries a hostage to fortune as a result of the outcome of these negotiations. We will ensure that our negotiations are designed to deliver an outcome which produces enhanced prosperity for Gibraltar and shared prosperity for the whole region around us. I look forward to taking the members of the European Scrutiny Committee through the detail of issues as we see them to ensure that they are no longer concerned about these unrealistic potential eventualities."

The Chief Minister has today written to the Committee Chair, Sir Bill Cash MP, on similar terms.