Lines
Lines

Brexit Negotiations

On the 16th of May 2022, The Chief Minister addressed parliament giving an update on the current state of the Brexit negotiations.  In respect of the continuing negotiations, and of particular interest to members, he stated;

“Gibraltar will continue to work constructively, together with the United Kingdom, to secure an international treaty based on the framework agreement concluded with Spain on 31 December 2020. That framework provided a delicate balance on a number of important issues. However, since the UK or Gibraltar would never accept an agreement which would sacrifice fundamentals or put Gibraltar’s future prosperity in jeopardy, we must also be ready to walk away, everything including the Transaction Tax is still on the negotiating table along with other measures such as land and air transport, the rights of cross border workers, the environment, financial support, and establishing a level playing field.”

The proposed negotiating directives put forward solutions to “remove physical checks and controls on persons and goods at the land border between Spain and Gibraltar while ensuring the integrity of the Schengen area and the Single Market”

The address in Parliament concluded with the following statement from the Chief Minister…
“On the morning of the 24th June 2016, our political world changed forever. We must understand that as we reach the final throes of this process. We must understand that Spain remains a member state of the EU and we are not. We must understand that things we had the right to do in Europe before we are now NOT entitled to. My obligation from then has been to steer a course to continued prosperity and to seek a path to future prosperity in an exclusively British Gibraltar. We have a plan for being outside the EU now and a plan for being outside the EU in four years’ time if needs be. Our better plan is the plan that sees us enter into arrangements with the EU so long as the circumstances for those arrangements are right and remain right. We are leaving no stone unturned to negotiate a safe, secure and positive agreement for Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU”.
“We will continue to work night and day, in good faith, to achieve that”.

Following the address in Parliament, the GFSB has been briefed by the Chief Minister on the current situation regarding the Brexit negotiations. The meeting was offered to the Board on the condition that the information shared was confidential. In order to continue working hard behind the scenes on behalf of our members to gather and distil this in the formation, the condition of confidentiality was accepted by the Board. As a result, and due to the sensitivity of the negotiations the details apart from those currently in the public domain cannot be shared at this point in time.
The GFSB is in contact with No. 6 and has requested, and will push to be included, in all future updates in order to and when appropriate, communicate effectively to its members the outcome and to assert pressure on Government to negotiate an agreement that secures the interests of our members.

Lines
Small Lines

SHARE THIS

Lines

OTHER NEWS

Picardo Budget Image

The Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce and the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses have both welcomed the Government’s confidence in the current state of the economy, but are disappointed that many of the increases announced in this year’s budget are “significantly higher” than the current rate of inflation of 2 ½ per cent.

The Data Protection Commissioner is responsible for the enforcement of data protection law in Gibraltar and upholds the rights of individuals and their privacy. To help organisations comply with data […]

Please click on the link below to see a brief of the Chief Ministers budget speech brought to us by Neil Rumford from EY Limited. Gibraltar budget brief 2021 The CM’s […]

The GFSB has revealed its new brand identity at a launch party 18 January 2024 at the Eliott Hotel.

The GFSB Board would like call an Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday 7th February 2019 at 1pm in the GFSB Conference Room, 122 Irish Town, Gibraltar. The EGM is to discuss and vote on […]

GFSB Business Innovation Awards Image

Buytickets.gi, founded by Jordan Lopez, is the winner of this year’s GFSB Business Innovation Awards which comes with a prize of £2000 of communications and IT equipment sponsored by Gibtelecom.

The new BEAT 5.0 measures are targeted at those businesses that have been closed down, and further providing increased support to other firms for the month of January. All of […]

The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB) welcomes the introduction of the Fair-Trading Act 2023 which comes into effect from the 1st of October. This reformed legislation promises to simplify […]

RENT DISCOUNT SCHEME Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar (HMGoG) has confirmed that the rent discount scheme operational in April and May 2020 will be extended one final time to 30 […]

The necessary legislation has been past and the BID is moving along to the next phase. To find out more please click on the newsletter link below: https://mainstreetbid.com/MainStreetBID-Newsletter

Brexit was the word on everyone’s lips at the GFSB’s Annual Gala Dinner in March this year. As members gathered at the bar of the Rock Hotel’s Khaima Restaurant making […]

Spanish Police Demo Frontier 15 08 19 Bugi 160062 Image

The GFSB PR ref the Jusapol's protest at the frontier.

As you may know over the weekend the GFSB were involved with two meetings of the Covid Emergency Liaison and Advisory Committee (CELAC) with the Chief Minister. Subsequently, the Chief […]

We value your views. Your feedback and comments are important to us and are always welcome. In this survey, we hope to give you another opportunity to give us your […]

GFSB Business Innovation Award sponsored by Gibtelecom The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses is happy to announce the opening of applications for next years GFSB Business Innovation Award sponsored by […]

PWC Summary of the Gibraltar Budget 2023 PwCSummaryGibraltarBudget2023 EY Limited – Gibraltar budget 2023 highlights 2023 07 11 Gibraltar Budget 2023 highlights

GFSB Members have expressed their concern about the ongoing issue of regular power cuts, which are having a significant impact on their operations, costs of doing business and profitability. Power […]

The Business Improvement District is inviting expressions of interest in the Project Head role. The Project Head role will provide leadership and day-to-day management of the BID Company, working in […]

The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses held its annual general meeting on Thursday 21st February. Its conference room at its Irish Town office suite was full to capacity for this year’s AGM, testament both to the increasing numbers of members and the growing participative nature of the Federation in recent years.