Clause 11 - Power to make consequential etc provision
European Parliament (Representation) Bill
2:30 pm
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Taylor.
The amendments set out provisions in respect of consultation before the orders could be made. I shall say why the clause is as drafted. We put most of the detail in secondary legislation, because many of the provisions that need to be changed in order to allow Gibraltar to participate and be part of the same region in the European parliamentary elections are already in secondary legislation. It was therefore appropriate to make the changes through further secondary legislation. Moreover, much of the complicated detail would not be appropriate in the Bill. That is why we are making the changes by order.
We are aware from the meetings and the correspondence with the Government of Gibraltar in the past year that they welcome the opportunity in the Bill to give the people of Gibraltar a say in European democracy. They made it clear, too, that they recognise that because they will be treated as part of an elected UK region for these purposes, it is essential
hat UK electoral law is applied as uniformly as possible to Gibraltar. The Government of Gibraltar and the House of Assembly want to play their part in ensuring that the necessary legislation is put in place and that the system works effectively. There is scope within the existing provisions for that to happen. Discussions are still taking place and consideration is still being given to the changes that it might be possible to make through changes to Gibraltar law by the House of Assembly and the Government of Gibraltar. What changes will need to be made to the detail of UK electoral law through this Parliament is also being considered. However, we are keen that whenever possible changes can take place through the House of Assembly and Government of Gibraltar in Gibraltar.
At our last meeting with the Government of Gibraltar on 17 December the officials had a constructive and detailed discussion about the scope of the provisions. The meeting considered whether it was possible to include something in the Bill to reflect more clearly the fact that Gibraltar, too, would contribute to the creation of the legislation. We have given an undertaking to consider the matter, and if necessary we will introduce amendments at a later date.