The European Union (Referendum) Act 2016 was an Act of the Gibraltar Parliament, which implements the United Kingdom's

European Union Referendum Act 2015 The European Union Referendum Act 2015c. 36 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for a consultative referendum to be held in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, on whether it should remain a member state ...

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. It was the first time a referendum has been held in Gibraltar on the issue of continued EU membership since the territory joined along with the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1973 and was the first time that any British Overseas Territory had participated in a UK-wide referendum. The Act commenced on 26 January 2016, and received assent from the

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the ...

on 28 January 2016.

Origin

On 1 January 1973,

along with the rest of the

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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Gibraltar's accession to the EC was determined in legislation as part of the UK's membership under the European Communities Act 1972. When the territory joined it was completely isolated from the rest of the EC as neighbouring

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

did not become an EC member until 1 January 1986, some thirteen years later. Gibraltar did not participate in the 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 The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

which allowed Gibraltar to formally take part in the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

as part of the South West European Parliament constituency in all subsequent European elections. Following the surprise election victory by the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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

The referendum

The act legislated for a referendum to be held in

on whether or not to remain a member of the European Union (EU), which was a single majority vote conducted and overseen by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

with the result in the territory fed into the

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

regional count area in line with European Elections under the

European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 The European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 (c. 24) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom governing elections to the European Parliament. The Act divided the United Kingdom into various regions to which were allocated a number of ...

as the overall outcome depends on how the rest of the

votes under the terms of the

and allows for a "Counting Officer (CO)" to be appointed within the territory to oversee and officiate the local count. The referendum was held on the same day as in the rest of the

on Thursday 23 June 2016. It also gave the

UK Electoral Commission In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission is the national election commission, created in 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. It is an independent agency that regulates party and election fina ...

the legal power and authority to oversee the referendum within the territory.

Campaign period

The act and the

legislates that the official referendum campaign period up until polling day will be of ten weeks duration (April 15 to June 23, 2016) just as it will be within the

with an official PPERA period where all government and public bodies in

are unable to comment or publish information specifically in regard to the referendum for a period of four weeks duration (27 May to 23 June 2016) up until polling day. During the campaign period the two lead campaign groups in Gibraltar just as they were in the

are

Britain Stronger in Europe Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 British referendum. It was launched at the Old Trum ...

who are advocating a "Remain" vote and

Vote Leave Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leav ...

who are advocating a "Leave" vote.

Campaign spending

Under the act and the

all political parties in

were limited to a maximum upper limit of £700,000.

Party policies

All the political parties and every politician within the Gibraltar Parliament supported a "remain" vote during the referendum campaign.

Referendum question

The question that appeared on ballot papers in the referendum before the electorate as set out under the act and the provisions of the

was: with the responses to the question to be (to be marked with a single (X)):

Franchise

The right to vote in the referendum is defined by the legislation as limited to residents of Gibraltar who were also either Commonwealth citizens under the

British Nationality Act 1948 The British Nationality Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on British nationality law which defined British nationality by creating the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" (CUKC) as the sole national ci ...

(which include

British citizens British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

and most other British nationals), or were also citizens of the Republic of Ireland, or both. Residents of Gibraltar who were citizens of other EU countries (other than the United Kingdom) were not allowed to vote unless they were citizens (or were also citizens) of the Republic of Ireland, of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

or of the Republic of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. The minimum age for voters in the referendum is 18 years, a figure in line with elections which are held in the UK. Polling Stations on the day of the referendum were open from 07:00 until 22:00 CEST (Thursday 23 June 2016) but counting did not begin until 23:00 CEST when polling stations close in the rest of the

Eligible voters

On Tuesday 21 June 2016 the

announced the official number of eligible voters who are entitled to vote in the referendum on Thursday 23 June under the provisions of the act in Gibraltar following the closing date for registration on Thursday June 9, 2016, these figures include all Commonwealth and Irish citizens. The final number of eligible voters was published after 9pm on Thursday 23 June 2016 by the Electoral Commission. The following shows both the provisional figure and the final figure in heavy bold brackets.

Result

The referendum result within

was declared early on Friday 24 June 2016 by the counting officer and Clerk to the Gibraltar Parliament Paul Martinez at the

University of Gibraltar The University of Gibraltar is a degree-awarding higher education institution established by the Government of Gibraltar through the University of Gibraltar Act 2015. The founding of the university was described by Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fab ...

at 00:40

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(23:40 BST) making it the first of the 382 voting areas to declare and its result was fed into the

regional count and then the overall national count. The result saw the single biggest "Remain" vote of all the 382 voting areas with only 4% of Gibraltarian voters opting to leave on a very high turnout of 84% with large queues reported at the Polling stations.

Outcome

The

overall voted by 51.9% to 48.1% to leave the

. Despite the overwhelming vote to remain in the

, the overseas territory of

would leave the

, as it was a majority vote of the whole of the UK for "Leave". The

triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017 which included Gibraltar although the territory was not specifically mentioned in the Article 50 letter that was sent to the European Union by the

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

References

{{2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum Referendums in Gibraltar Gibraltar and the European Union 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum 2016 elections in Gibraltar January 2016 events in Europe