European Union (Referendum) Act 2016 (Gibraltar): Difference between revisions

On 1 January 1973, [[Gibraltar]] along with the rest of the [[United Kingdom]] joined what was then known as the [[European Communities]] (EC), the main component of which was known as the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC), but all collectively known informally but commonly and generally in the United Kingdom as the ''Common Market'' which later became the [[European Union]]. Gibraltar's accession to the EC was determined in legislation as part of the UK's membership under the [[European Communities Act 1972 (UK)|European Communities Act 1972]]. When the territory joined it was completely isolated from the rest of the EC as neighbouring [[Spain]] did not become an EC member until 1 January 1986, some thirteen years later. Gibraltar did not participate in the [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|1975 UK European Communities membership referendum]] even though the result directly impacted on its membership and didn't participate in any European Parliamentary Elections between 1979 and 1999 but in 2002 legislation was passed by the [[British Parliament]] which allowed Gibraltar to formally take part in the [[2004 European Parliament election in Gibraltar|2004 European Parliament election]] as part of the South West European Parliament constituency in all subsequent European elections. Following the surprise election victory by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] in May 2015 it was announced that Gibraltar would fully participate in the proposed referendum on continuing EU membership and this was legislated for in the [[European Union Referendum Act 2015]].