Brexit Select Committee meets for EU Withdrawal Bill briefing

The Brexit Select Committee of the Gibraltar Parliament met this morning to brief members on the EU Withdrawal Bill.

The formal session, which was held in the Parliament Chamber, was convened by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, who opened the session and explained the background.

The purpose of the meeting was for the Members to receive a power-point presentation on the Bill by the Attorney General Michael Llamas, Senior Law Draftsman Paul Peralta and members of the legal drafting team.

The Bill was first published as a Command Paper on 27 November 2018 and it was then published as a Bill on 20 December 2018.

The Government was also represented by the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, the Minister for Education and the Environment Dr John Cortes, the Minister for Commerce Albert Isola and the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Paul Balban.

The Opposition were represented by Daniel Feetham and Trevor Hammond from the GSD Opposition, as well as Marlene Hassan Nahon from Together Gibraltar.

The Government, which has a majority on the Committee, agreed that other GSD MPs who are not Members of the Committee could be present for the briefing.

Both the Leader of the Opposition Elliott Philips and Roy Clinton availed themselves of the opportunity to be briefed at first hand.

According to the Government, the members of the Select Committee on Exiting the European Union have now met in formal and informal session nearly twenty times.

In the main these have consisted of detailed briefings on the on-going negotiations to leave the European Union, the Government said.

This was the first time that the Committee has met for a briefing on a public document.