The European Commission has made clear that Gibraltar is part of the Brexit withdrawal negotiations and that Spain’s additional veto only applies in respect of the UK’s future arrangements with the EU.
Delegations of the Gibraltar and United Kingdom Governments have met in Gibraltar on Friday for a full day of discussions covering a wide range of issues.
Gibraltar will switch the EU flag for the Commonwealth flag as it seeks to forge “strong and enduring” trade relationships around the world after Brexit, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said. The Chief Minister was speaking at the opening of a conference focusing on Brexit and the importance of the Commonwealth to the UK and Gibraltar’s futures.
Nearly forty Parliamentarians from eleven Commonwealth countries and territories (including Falkland Islands) are meeting in Gibraltar in order to discuss the impact of the decision taken in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, among other current issues.
The Government of Gibraltar has warmly congratulated Michael Llamas QC upon his appointment as Europe's representative in the highly prestigious and important Ethics Committee of FIFA. Llamas joins other highly distinguished lawyers and judges who will form part of the Ethics Committee. These include a former President of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Gibraltar is preparing for a hard Brexit but expects new opportunities for its financial services sector despite the challenges ahead, Finance Centre Director James Tipping told a European Parliament committee in Brussels. Mr Tipping told the parliament’s Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion that Gibraltar’s finance centre was “small by European standards” but crucial to Gibraltar’s economy.
The German Government believes Brexit offers “a possibly historic opportunity” for the UK and Spain to reach “a friendly and sensible” political agreement over Gibraltar’s legal status, according to Spanish press reports.
European leaders have endorsed a joint negotiating position on Brexit, including the controversial Spanish veto over the application of any future U.K./EU trade deal to Gibraltar. The 27 remaining members states formally agreed their talks strategy at a special European Council meeting in Brussels.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry has strongly suggested that the Labour manifesto, to be launched on 15 May, will make clear that the disputed Falkland Islands will remain British for as long as those living there want to be, according to Politics Home
Gibraltar could be Spanish “within four years”, Spain’s former foreign minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, said on Wednesday insisting that “the Hong Kongisation” of the Rock was possible in that timescale.