Gibraltar%20in%20the%20EU

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Gibraltar in the EU

• Post-boxing arrangements

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Gibraltars position in the EU - Background -

• Gibraltar is situated at the Southerly tip of the
  Iberian Peninsula facing the North coast of
  Africa and controlling the entrance to the
  Mediterranean.
• It is small in geographic terms being less than 3
  square miles in area and supporting a population
  of 30,000.

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Gibraltars position in the EU

• Gibraltar has been a Crown Colony of the United
  Kingdom since 1704. Although Gibraltar enjoys a
  considerable degree of self government concerning
  its internal affairs, the UK retains overall
  responsibility for Gibraltar and is directly
  responsible for issues such as
• Defence
• Foreign Affairs and
• Internal Security

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Gibraltars position in the EU

• Under Article 299(4) (ex Article 227) of the
  Treaty of Rome, which established the European
  Community, the provisions of the Treaty of Rome
  are applied throughout the European Territories
  for whose external relations a Member State is
  responsible for.

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Gibraltars position in the EU

• This means that, by virtue of the UKs membership
  of the EU, Gibraltar is part of the EU, including
  part of the UKs single market.
• Gibraltar is not, however, a Member State and the
  UK remains responsible for EU related affairs
  with respect to Gibraltar.
• For the purposes of financial service regulation
  the Competent Authority for Gibraltar is The
  Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC).
• The GFSC is entirely independent from the UK
  Financial Services Authority, which is the
  Competent Authority for financial services
  regulation in the UK.

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Gibraltars position in the EU

• Within the various EU Treaties, Regulations,
  Directives and Decisions there are provisions for
  the Competent Authorities of Member States to
  communicate with each other.
• Whilst, as the competent authority, the GFSC
  would normally communicate directly with other
  competent authorities within the EU, Spanish
  sovereignty claims over Gibraltar and their
  consequential non-recognition of Gibraltar
  institutions required a slightly different
  process being adopted.
• Therefore, in respect of Gibraltar, agreement has
  been reached between the United Kingdom and its
  EU partners of how this communication between EU
  competent authorities was going to be undertaken.
  

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Gibraltars position in the EU

• The UK have established the UK Government of
  Gibraltar Liaison Unit for EU affairs. The unit
  is otherwise known as the Post-box handles and
  keeps track of all formal communications between
  Gibraltar competent authorities and their EU/EEA
  EFTA counterparties, and ensure that information
  is exchanged smoothly and effectively.
• Areas covered by the Post-box are, any present or
  future treaty concluded within the framework of
  the EU.
• The post box does not cover other types of
  correspondence or cooperation between the GFSC
  and other regulators, including the sharing of
  information in relation to regulatory enquiries
  and investigations. These are dealt with
  directly between the GFSC and the regulator
  concerned. The post box is not part of, no does
  it have any link to the UK Financial Services
  Authority

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Gibraltars position in the EU

• The Post-box does not review the documentation
  received, it simply establishes a mechanism for
  passing notifications and decisions between
  Gibraltar and EU/EEA EFTA competent authorities
  on treaty issues (for example passporting of
  firms between one Member State and another).
• Outgoing documents are drawn up by the Gibraltar
  Competent Authority, in this scenario the GFSC.
• They will be addressed to the Member State
  Competent Authority.

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Post-Box ArrangementsOutgoing Documents

• The GFSC will send the document, by hand, to the
  Chief Secretary of the Government of Gibraltar
  (Chief Secretary) at his office at Number 6
  Convent Place, Gibraltar.
• This accompanied by a cover letter and 2 copies
  of the documents. These need to be placed with
  the original in an unsealed envelope addressed to
  the Member State Competent Authority.
• The Chief Secretarys Office will then allocate a
  reference number. One copy will be retained and
  the original plus second copy are sent to the UK
  Government Gibraltar Liaison Unit for EU affairs
  (UKGGLU). Additionally the Chief Secretarys
  Office will also send an advanced fax copy of the
  document to the UKGGLU.

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Outgoing Documents

• If the Member State Competent Authority
  acknowledges receipt of the UKGGLU, that
  acknowledgement will be sent as an Incoming
  Document to the Chief Secretarys office.
• Alternatively if the Member State Competent
  Authority acknowledges receipt to the GFSC, then
  the GFSC will inform the Chief Secretarys
  office, who will, in turn, advise the UKGGLU by
  fax.
• On receipt of the original document the UKGGLU
  will send a fax to the Chief Secretarys office
  acknowledging receipt. The Chief Secretary will
  then inform the GFSC.

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Outgoing Documents

• The UKGGLU will retain the copy of the documents
  and pass the original to the Member State
  Competent Authority by either
• Courier
• Diplomatic Bag or
• Registered Mail
• This will be accompanied by a cover letter. The
  UKGGLU will fax a copy of the cover letter and
  method of conveyance of the documents to the
  Chief Secretary for onward transmission to the
  GFSC.

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Outgoing documents procedures
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Incoming Documents

• All incoming documents to the GFSC will be sent
  via the UKGGLU to the Chief Secretarys office by
  private courier with a cover letter. The UKGGLU
  and the Chief Secretarys office will each make a
  copy of incoming documents.
• An advanced copy of the incoming documents will
  be faxed by the UKGGLU to the Chief Secretarys
  office with a reference tracking number attached
  to it.
• The Chief Secretarys office will then send the
  incoming document to the GFSC by hand with an
  attached cover letter. On receipt the FSC will
  acknowledge the receipt of the original document
  by faxing the Chief Secretarys office.
• Finally the Chief Secretarys office will send a
  fax to the UKGGLU acknowledging the safe arrival
  of the document

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Incoming documents procedures
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Post-Box

• Contact details for the UKGGLU
• Scott Strain (Head)
• Justine Graham (Desk Officer)
• UKGGLURoom E1.105EU-Internal (Western
  Mediterranean Team)Foreign and Commonwealth
  OfficeKing Charles Street London SW1A 2AH
• Tel [phone]Tel [phone]
• Fax[phone]
• E-mail Scott.Strain_at_fco.gov.uk Justine.Graham_at_
  fco.gov.uk

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What the Post Box is not intended for!

• It is NOT to be used for routine matters of
  communication or co-operation between Competent
  Authorities. For example
• Fit and proper checks of individuals
• Investigations
• Consolidated Supervision
• Issues of Technical Assistance
• It does NOT apply in issues pertaining to the
  proper exchange of information between Competent
  Authorities.
• Furthermore the Post Box arrangements do NOT
  impact on any arrangements reached when entering
  into an MOU with another Competent Authority.
• Informal communications between Competent
  Authorities, for example, e-mails, are NOT
  included in the Post Box arrangements.
• It does NOT apply to ANY relationships between
  GFSC and non EU regulators

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Conclusions

• Post-boxing was introduced as a result of the
  on-going Spanish sovereignty claims over
  Gibraltar. It was therefore introduced for
  political NOT regulatory reasons
• It is solely used for formal communications
  between the GFSC and other competent authorities
  in the EU in relation to Treaty matters (e.g.
  passporting of banking, insurance and investment
  services).
• It has no impact on the day to day inter
  regulatory cooperation between the GFC and other
  regulators in the EU. These remain direct.
• All Post-boxing is via the UKGGLU there is no
  involvement of the UK Financial Services
  Authority which is entirely independent from the
  GFSC.

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Post-Box ArrangementsEnd