EC Meeting July 2017

Brief historical background of Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a small territory of less than 5 square kilometres with 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsular and is connected to the mainland by a short isthmus. It has been British since 1704. Over three hundred years of association with Great Britain have imbued this Mediterranean Territory with a mix of British and Mediterranean culture. Gibraltar institutions are ones familiar to any British person. The official language is English although most Gibraltarians are bilingual and also speak Spanish. The education system, the police authority, the health authority, the judicial system and the parliamentary systems have all been directly inherited from the UK. All our professionals have studied at British universities and are members of British chartered institutions. To begin with Gibraltar’s main reason for being was as a British military base, its population working either directly or indirectly for this purpose. This continued until the early 1980’s when due to several MoD restructures, the economy had to diversify. Although there is a much reduced military presence, Gibraltar is still of strategic military and political value to the UK. Today Gibraltar has a diverse services based economy which provides bunkering, financial services, on-line gaming and tourism products amongst others. The Gibraltar Government, however, is still the largest single employer in Gibraltar. Gibraltar has developed politically and today enjoys its second Constitution which has given Gibraltarians full autonomy as to the internal running of the territory. All matters appertaining to Gibraltar are governed by the local Parliament which is made up of 10 Ministers in Government and 7 members of the opposition. The voting system is set up so that each voter can vote for up to 10 MPs taken from all those who have put their names down for election. The only two matters which the United Kingdom still has responsibility for are Defence and Foreign Affairs. Gibraltar today is economically self-sufficient and does not cost the UK tax payer a single penny. Gibraltar employs around fourteen thousand workers from the adjoining hinterland, the majority being Spanish nationals. Political Background Gibraltar voted against Brexit with an overwhelming majority of 96%, fearing reprisals from Spain on exit from the European Union. The main contention is fluid movement of goods and people across the Gibraltar/Spain border, as long queues have a devastating effect on the economy of both Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar area. After the triggering of Article 50, Spain’s hostile stance towards Gibraltar is evidenced by clause 24 of the EU guidelines for Brexit, whereby no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to Gibraltar without agreement between Spain and the United Kingdom. In this political climate, we can only assume that there will be many challenges ahead for trade unions in Gibraltar. Having said that, on the 27 th June 2017, the Chief Minister announced a budget surplus of £75.8 million and the GDP forecast for this financial year is £1.91 billion – a year-on-year Spain today still claims Gibraltar for itself irrespective of the wishes of the Gibraltarians. Spain has laid siege to Gibraltar over the centuries on 17 occasions. All have been unsuccessful.

2