The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is currently being debated in the Gibraltar Parliament, introduced at length by Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia. Here's a summary, provided by the Government, of what it means:

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill follows the approach of the United Kingdom’s EU (Withdrawal) Act. It provides the legal cover for an organised departure from the European Union. It will also provide legal cover for a no deal Brexit.

It repeals the European Communities Act on the day the United Kingdom and Gibraltar leave the European Union. It ends the supremacy of European Union (EU) law in Gibraltar and converts EU law as it stands at the moment of exit into domestic Gibraltar legislation.

It also creates the power to make subsidiary legislation to enable corrections to be made to those laws that would otherwise no longer operate appropriately once we leave the European Union. This will allow our domestic legal system to continue to function correctly outside the EU.

The Bill performs three main functions-

• It repeals the European Communities Act;
• It converts EU law as it stands at the moment of exit into domestic law before the UK leaves the EU; and
• And it creates powers to make subsidiary legislation to enable corrections to be made to the laws that would otherwise no longer operate appropriately once Gibraltar has left the EU.

The legislation before the House today provides the basis for EU law to become domestic law.

It will be the framework under which hundreds of pieces of legislation will have to be amended as Gibraltar leaves the European Union.

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