UK and Gibraltar ensure continued business cooperation until 2020

This week, the UK Government has guaranteed Gibraltar’s continued access to the UK market for financial services and online gaming against the backdrop of Brexit, also ensuring that British citizens resident in Gibraltar would continue to enjoy access to health services and higher education in UK universities at the same rates as UK students, as is currently the case.

The UK market accounts for over 90% of all business conducted by Gibraltar-based companies under EU single market rules. Under the measures, the UK will guarantee Gibraltar financial services firms’ access to UK markets as now until 2020.

Ahead of this, the UK Government will work closely with the Government of Gibraltar to design a replacement framework to endure beyond 2020 similarly based on shared, high standards of regulation and enforcement, and underpinned by modern arrangements for information-sharing, transparency and regulatory cooperation.

“Great care has rightly been taken by the UK and Gibraltar to ensure regulatory standards will be maintained between us in a manner that will be designed to assure customer protection and equivalence on regulatory outcomes going forward,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

“Today our bilateral relationship grows stronger and the terms for it to endure are further cemented as we realise the commitment to maintain and enhance market access for Gibraltar service providers into the UK post-Brexit.”

The announcement was made in London after a meeting of the JMC chaired by the Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union, Robin Walker, and attended by the Minister for Europe, Sir Alan Duncan, and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen. The Gibraltar delegation was led by Mr Picardo and included the Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for EU Exit, Dr Joseph Garcia, Attorney General Michael Llamas, Financial Secretary Albert Mena and UK Representative Dominique Searle.

“Today we have agreed a positive package deal on issues surrounding our exit from the EU, once again demonstrating that we stand shoulder to shoulder with Gibraltarians in our unwavering commitment to the UK-Gibraltar relationship,” Mr Walker said.

“We know the people and businesses of Gibraltar have been asking for certainty, and we have heard them,”  Secretary to the Treasury John Glen. “We are ensuring that Gibraltar’s access to UK markets will continue unchanged until 2020, even in the unlikely event of no deal being reached. This will give us the time we need to work with the Government of Gibraltar to design a new, modernised agreement, based on similar, high standards of regulation and enforcement.”