The European Commission has published a call to Member States and stakeholders to ensure that all necessary preparedness and contingency measures are in place in the event of a no deal Brexit. The Commission has said that it does not plan any new measures before the latest withdrawal date of 31 October.

The Government therefore reiterates its call to stakeholders in Gibraltar to make their own preparations also.

It is important that businesses and citizens familiarise themselves with the advice that the Government has issued so far. These technical notices can be found on the Government website at www.gibraltar.gov.gi. They are located under the section headed “Brexit Information” and cover areas like travel documents, healthcare, driving in Spain and EU funding programmes.

It will be recalled that Gibraltar was specifically singled out and excluded from EU contingency measures at the behest of Spain. It was then included in the EU visa regulation, with an offensive footnote, as well as in unilateral contingency plans published by the Spanish Government in respect of British Citizens living in the United Kingdom and in Gibraltar.

The technical notices issued so far cover:

1. Passports
2. Pet Passports
3. Driving in the EU
4. Identity cards and travel documents
5. Mobile roaming
6. .eu domain name
7. European Health Insurance Cards
8. EU funding programmes
9. Unilateral Spanish contingency measures
10. Financial Services
11. Driving in Spain
12. Aviation
13. Healthcare
14. Shipments of waste
15. Civil litigation involving EU Member States
16. Further country-specific information with regard to driving abroad
17. Passports
18. Accounting and auditing
19. Data Protection
20. Workplace rights
21. Studying in the UK, the EU and Gibraltar
22. Recognition of Professional qualifications
23. Social Security Coordination

It will be recalled that the United Kingdom and Gibraltar were involved in intense preparations for a no-deal Brexit in view of the original exit dates first at the end of March and subsequently on the 12 April. These plans were scaled back following the extension until 31 October that was agreed between the UK and the EU. The Brexit Executive Group, which is chaired by the Chief Secretary, has nonetheless continued its meetings throughout and the engagement with the UK Government has also continued at a political and an official level.

The Brexit Strategic Group, composed of senior officials and chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia has now reconvened in order to review the state of readiness and the updated planning. The last meeting included the Chief Secretary Darren Grech, Commissioner of Police Ian McGrail, Collector of Customs John Rodriguez, Parliamentary Counsel Paul Peralta, Richard Montado, Ivor Lopez the Civil Contingency Coordinator and Ernest Francis from the Office of the Deputy Chief Minister.

The Group went through the revised Common Operating Procedure and was updated on the work of the groups below which cover the supply chain, supply routes, commerce, critical services, health and social care, law and order, public services, legislation and data protection.

Commenting on the latest situation, the Deputy Chief Minister said: “There is continuous engagement between officials of the Government of Gibraltar and of the United Kingdom both with regard to preparations for a no deal Brexit but also to prepare for negotiations on the future. The two work-streams are running parallel to each other. It is important that citizens and businesses familiarise themselves with the advice that has been given in the eventuality that the United Kingdom and Gibraltar leave the European Union without an agreement.

“The preferred position of the Government of Gibraltar is that the UK revokes article 50 and remains in the European Union or a referendum. However, we need to continue to prepare for every eventuality and that includes leaving on 31 October without a deal.”