The European Parliament this morning voted on the negotiating parameters for the European Union in the forthcoming process for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

The Resolution came about following a pact between the main groups in European Parliament that there should be no amendments to it.

The Resolution allows for bilateral arrangements which have been agreed by the EU-27.

However, a number of MEPs sought to include amendments which reflected the position of Gibraltar in the Resolution. In order to progress this further, a minimum of 38 cross-party MEPs needed to support the amendment or it needed to be tabled by one of the main groups in the European Parliament. There were three amendments tabled about Gibraltar, one by the ECR group (which includes the UK Conservatives), one by the EFDD group (which includes UKIP) and a third amendment which was supported by 58 MEPs from different political groups and who represent a number of different countries.

The Deputy Chief Minister, the Hon Dr Joseph Garcia MP, said: “Unfortunately, none of the relevant amendments that were tabled were taken on board, although 209 MEPs supported the inclusion of a reference to Gibraltar and 440 voted against. It is important to see this in the context of the pact that no amendments should be tabled and of the pressure placed by the leadership of the groups, at the behest of Spanish MEPs, that Members should vote against it. The Government is very grateful to the 209 MEPs who defied this intense pressure and decided to vote to include Gibraltar anyway and to the Office in Brussels for their work. The position of the European Parliament in respect of the negotiations is now fixed.”