Guernsey Press

Brussels office 'had warned us about EU blacklist'

GUERNSEY was fortunate to get a 36-hour warning that it was about to appear on an EU blacklist, thanks to the island's Brussels office, the chief minister has said.

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Three weeks on since island officials and industry figures were shocked by Guernsey's appearance on the list of 30 non-cooperative jurisdictions, Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq has defended and praised the work of the Brussels office, which costs Guernsey around £360,000 a year to maintain.

'I think they've been pushed into doing it by Parliamentary Committee and because it was a knee-jerk reaction they didn't think through what they did.

'As a result, it's led to greater engagement with some nations around the EU and other organisations who have supported us and said we shouldn't be on there.'

He said the Brussels office had became aware of the list just 36 hours ahead of when it was published – the same time that the UK's permanent Brussels representatives heard the news.

'We're not a member state, so the fact that we found out when everyone else did is pretty great,' said Deputy Le Tocq.

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