Govt to brief Opposition after receiving ‘final and stable’ treaty text 

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has formally invited the Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi, to attend a confidential briefing on the UK/EU treaty after confirming the Government had received a “final and stable” text of the agreement. 

The Government said it was now appropriate that all elected representatives were fully appraised of the treaty’s fundamentals, directly from the source text rather than through earlier briefings on principles or external commentary, particularly regarding sovereignty protections. 

The GSD had just last week called on the Government to provide it with a copy of the text, although at that point it was not yet fully finalised. 

The Government said the objective of the briefing, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at 3pm at No.6 Convent Place, was to ensure the Opposition could review and consider the draft treaty and its supporting documents in advance of its public release. 

The briefing will cover the text, current status and fundamental principles of the treaty, including matters relating to sovereignty protections, and would take place “at a critical stage in the ratification process”. 

It will be conducted on OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE, or “Privy Council”, terms and will be led by Mr Picardo, together with Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia and the Attorney General Michael Llamas. 

“While the content of the briefing will remain confidential, the fact of the meeting will be public,” No.6 Convent Place said in a statement. 

“The Leader of the Opposition has confirmed his attendance with relevant shadow colleagues.” 

The Government reiterated its view that, “at this stage of the process, Gibraltar’s elected representatives should be fully informed of the Treaty’s provisions so that Gibraltar may approach the forthcoming ratification process with clarity, responsibility and an understanding of the strategic rationale underpinning the agreement.” 

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr Azopardi said he would attend the briefing with fellow GSD MPs Damon Bossino and Roy Clinton. 

“Of course, that briefing is disadvantaged by the fact that we have, so far, not seen a single page of the Treaty text,” Mr Azopardi said in the letter, which he posted on his social media. “Although we have followed what has been said publicly there is no substitute for actually reading the text as you would, no doubt, agree.” 

“As such while the briefing will be helpful in giving us particular indications we welcome your confirmation that we will now receive a copy of the full Treaty text to enable our own assessment to proceed.” 

Mr Azopardi asked to be provided with a copy of the treaty text “at the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter”, confirming that he would treat this as confidential until the treaty is published by the Government “or anyone else”. 

“I would assume that I would be able to share the Treaty text with Parliamentary colleagues given the forthcoming debate in Parliament,” he added.  

“Anything else would hamper rather than aid the important debate that needs to be had.” 

In his letter inviting Mr Azopardi to the briefing, Mr Picardo had urged the GSD not to adopt a partisan political approach to the agreement. 

“Needless to say wherever we land on our final assessment of the Treaty will not be a partisan exercise but will be guided by our own long-standing yardstick of whether it is safe and beneficial for Gibraltar,” Mr Azopardi said in his reply.  

“We can only carry out that exercise after scrutiny of the full Treaty text including any accompanying protocols and annexes.”