In 933, the
Cotentin Peninsula including
Avranchin which included the islands, were placed by the French
King Ranulf under the control of
William I. The island of Guernsey and the other
Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval
Duchy of Normandy.
[12] In 1204, when
King John lost the continental portion of the Duchy to
Philip II of France, the islands remained part of the kingdom of England.
[13] The islands were then recognised by the
1259 Treaty of Paris as part of
Henry III's territories.
[14]
As part of the peace between England and France,
Pope Sixtus IV issued in 1483 a
Papal bull granting the
Privilege of Neutrality, by which the Islands, their harbours and seas, as far as the eye can see, were considered neutral territory.
[17] Anyone molesting Islanders would be excommunicated. A
Royal Charter in 1548 confirmed the neutrality. The French attempted to invade Jersey a year later in 1549 but were defeated by the
militia. The neutrality lasted another century, until
William III of England abolished the privilege due to privateering activity against Dutch ships.
[18]
During the late 1940s the island repaired the damage caused to its buildings during the occupation. The tomato industry started up again and thrived until the 1970s when the significant increase in world oil prices led to a sharp, terminal decline.
[31] Tourism has remained important.
[32] Finance businesses grew in the 1970s and expanded in the next two decades and are important employers.
[33] Guernsey's constitutional and trading relationships with the UK is largely unaffected by
Brexit[34] although those with France have resulted in increased bureaucracy.
Guernsey is a
parliamentary representative democracy and a British
Crown dependency. The
Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey is the "representative of
the Crown in right of the
république of the Bailiwick of Guernsey".
[43] The
official residence of the Lieutenant Governor is Government House. Since 2016 the incumbent has been
Vice Admiral Sir
Ian Corder KBE, CB, replacing his predecessor,
Air Marshal Peter Walker, who had died in post.
[44] The post was created in 1835 as a result of the abolition of the office of Governor. Since that point, the Lieutenant Governor has always resided locally.
[45]
Guernsey levies no
capital gains,
inheritance, capital transfer, value added (VAT / TVA) or general withholding taxes.
[86] In the 2011 Budget, the UK announced that it would be ending Low Value Consignment Relief that was being used to sell goods VAT free to customers across the UK, with this legislation coming into force on 1 April 2012.
[87] Tax revenues represent 22.4% of GDP.
[88]
Prior to the UK's exit from the EU, trade between the UK and Crown Dependencies was governed by protocol 3 of the UK's EU accession treaty.
[6]
On 26 November 2018, the UK signed customs agreements with each of the Crown Dependencies to allow free trade to continue to flow across between all the parties by creating a single UK–Crown Dependencies Customs Union.
[7]
On 29 December 2020, the UK–Crown Dependencies Customs Agreements took effect and officially created a customs union between the UK and Crown Dependencies.
[8]