Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to continue to include Gibraltar in (1) the Article 3 definition section, and (2) Article 184 of the future framework section, of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Article 3 of the Withdrawal Agreement published on 26 November clearly states that Gibraltar is covered to the extent that Union Law applied to it before. Article 184, which records the UK and the EU’s commitment to negotiate in good faith and conclude agreements envisaged by the Political Declaration on their future relationship within a certain time frame, imposes no obligations regarding the territorial scope of future agreements. This is the EU and the UK’s shared interpretation. The government has also been clear that the UK will negotiate future agreements on behalf of all territories for whose external relations it is responsible.
Asked by: Lord Luce (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the transitional arrangements that will be sought for the UK as part of the EU withdrawal agreement will cover (1) Gibraltar, and (2) all other UK Overseas Territories.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As the Prime Minister has set out, we are seeking a strictly time-limited implementation period as part of our withdrawal negotiations, to provide certainty and stability for both people and businesses - in the UK and in the EU - to adjust to the new arrangements in a smooth and orderly way. The Prime Minister said clearly in the House on 18 December that we are not going to exclude Gibraltar from our negotiations for either the implementation period or the future agreement. It is the UK’s consistent position that our negotiations extend to include UK Overseas Territories, including Gibraltar, in those areas where their association with the EU is affected.