A CLOSER working relationship between the Channel Islands will eventually require some form of pan-island institution, Jersey’s assistant chief minister Sir Philip Bailhache has said.

Legal experts and delegates gathered at St James yesterday to discuss increasing island co-operation – in particular the possibility of creating a Channel Island confederation.

Senator Bailhache, pictured, said he believed that a confederation would be in the best interests of the islands.

‘I think at this stage the identity of both Bailiwicks are special and both islands are keen to preserve them,’ he said.

‘A confederation does not involve the merging of identities like a federation – it creates an institution that coordinates the power of separate states.’