Gibraltar ready for Britain’s EU referendum

Legislation to enable Gibraltar to vote in the forthcoming UK referendum on European Union membership was unanimously passed in Parliament yesterday.

All of Gibraltar’s political parties will campaign for the Rock to remain within the European Union, although the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, stressed that Gibraltar’s economic, cultural and social survival do not depend on membership of the European Union.

Mr Picardo told Parliament: “This Bill deals with what is of course a seminal issue for our community. A seminal issue that calls for a decision once the British Prime Minister calls a referendum in which we are also to vote with the rest of the British people.”

“It is such a generational decision; it is such a seminal decision for this community that it is almost a sine qua non that most Gibraltarians feel intrinsically that Gibraltar and the United Kingdom should remain a part of the European Union because of the importance that the EU plays in our lives.”

The Leader of the Opposition Daniel Feetham said: “For Gibraltar it is a generational decision but it is much more than just a generational decision. For many areas of business being in Europe is existential. For parts of the finance centre being outside Europe would have a devastating effect and therefore a knock-on effect for revenue that comes to the Government.”

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