Lord Luce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Luce on 2016-03-07.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the consequences for the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and what action they plan to take to protect the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man in the event of such a withdrawal.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have a special relationship with the EU, provided under Protocol 3 to the UK’s Treaty of Accession to the European Community. The procedure governing a country’s departure from the EU is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This provides for a period of two years for the negotiation of exit terms. After two years, the departing Member State is deemed to have left the EU, meaning that both the rights and the obligations that derive from membership would lapse. This two year deadline can be extended, but only by unanimous agreement of all EU Member States.
At the February European Council the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the UK special status in a reformed EU. The Government’s position, as set out by the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), to the House of Commons on 22 February, is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.
