The Diplomat
Fabian Picardo’s Government has published a set of “guidance” to Gibraltarian citizens in the event that no agreement is reached in negotiations between the UK and the EU on Gibraltar’s future relationship.
The Gibraltarian government has published a document containing guidance for citizens in the event that there is no agreement, as reported by the Executive of the Rock in a press release. This is the second manual of these characteristics. The first, entitled Preparing for a No Deal Brexit, was disseminated in the run-up to the Withdrawal Agreement.
The new document shows that the Government retains the option of operating a reciprocal regime at the border in the context of the more stringent controls that would be operated by Spain for entry and exit under the Schengen Border Code. It covers areas like the movement of goods, cross-border healthcare, driving, social security telecommunications and mobile roaming. The document makes it clear that “it will be impossible to completely mitigate against all the consequences of no agreement simply because the new situation would simply reflect life outside the European Union.”
In their joint foreword, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia note that the the position of the Government remains unchanged and that “Gibraltar will continue to work constructively, together with the United Kingdom, to secure an international treaty based on the framework agreement concluded with Spain on 31 December 2020,” which “was arrived at after many months of negotiations.”
However, they add, “since the UK or Gibraltar would never accept an agreement which would sacrifice fundamentals or put Gibraltar’s future prosperity in jeopardy, we must also be ready to walk away.” This means that “it is prudent and responsible to prepare both for an agreement and for no agreement at the same time.”
Although the political framework for the negotiations was agreed on December 31, 2020, the actual process did not begin until October 2021, when the first talks between the European Commission and the UK took place in Brussels. All parties involved have expressed their desire for an agreement to be reached in the first quarter of this year. The negotiations concern issues such as the free movement of persons, the exchange of goods, conditions of fair competition, the environment, the coordination of social security systems and citizens’ rights, among others. Failure to reach an agreement on Gibraltar would result in a hard Brexit in the region, with border controls on passengers and goods that would affect the thousands of Spaniards working on the Rock.
