Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will receive next November 25 in Madrid the main representatives of the Campo de Gibraltar to address the status of negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom on the future relationship of Gibraltar with the EU, as reported by local media Europa Sur and Andalucía Información and confirmed by Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth of Municipalities sources to The Diplomat.
Albares will meet with the president of the Commonwealth of Municipalities of Campo de Gibraltar, Juan Lozano, the sub-delegate of the Andalusian Government, Javier Rodriguez Ros, and the mayors of the eight municipalities in the region.
For his part, the mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce (PP), confirmed that the mayors will be received on November 25 by Albares and stated, in declarations to The Diplomat, that the topics that most interest him at the meeting are “the area of shared wealth”, the situation of “cross-border commuters and Spanish pensioners”, the “effective presence” of the Guardia Civil and the National Police at the border points” and coordination with respect to maritime accidents.
The last meeting of the minister with the Commonwealth took place on October 19, 2021 at the ministerial headquarters of the Palacio de Viana in Madrid, a few days after the start of negotiations between London and Brussels to define the relationship of Gibraltar with the European Union. On that occasion, the minister assured the mayors that the differences that had arisen in the negotiations between the EU and the UK over the Irish border would not prevent an agreement on the Gibraltar border because “they are two separate negotiations”. He also assured them that his priority was to create an area of “shared prosperity” and that the Government was prepared “for any eventuality”, including “a plan B”, should negotiations stall.
The negotiations between the EU and the UK on the exit and the future of Gibraltar (the Gibrexit) have been conducted outside the Trade and Cooperation Agreement reached between London and Brussels on December 24, 2020 to define their relations after Brexit. Under Brussels’ commitment to Madrid, any future agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom regarding Gibraltar will require Spain’s prior consent. The European Commission and the United Kingdom have already held nine rounds of negotiations on Gibraltar.
On December 31, 2020, Madrid and London reached a last-minute pre-agreement to prevent an abrupt exit from the colony as of January 1, 2021. In July 2021, the European Commission approved the mandate for negotiations on the future status of Gibraltar, the basis of which is the pre-agreement signed by Spain and the United Kingdom and which states that “control and surveillance” of the external borders of the Schengen zone will be established “in the port, airport and waters of Gibraltar and will be carried out by Spain, in application of existing EU rules.” London and Gibraltar are flatly opposed to this possibility. In fact, the Commission’s mandate recalls that Spain has already expressed its wish to request the collaboration of the European Border and Coastal Agency (Frontex) to control the port and airport of the Rock, as stated in the New Year’s Eve pre-agreement in the face of the refusal of the Gibraltarian authorities to accept the presence of Spanish forces in their territory.
This detail has become the main sticking point between all the actors involved. 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. The Government of Fabian Picardo already warned in early November that the tightening of controls from Spain would adversely affect companies based in Gibraltar.
Albares calls for more pace to Brussels
On November 10, during his working visit to Brussels, Albares held a meeting with the Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations of the EU, Maros Sefcovic, to whom, in his capacity as head of the European negotiating team for the agreement on Gibraltar after Brexit, he presented the “global Spanish proposal for the relationship between Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar and create this area of shared prosperity”. In that same meeting, the minister asked Sefcovic to “increase the pace of meetings with the United Kingdom” so that this “global proposal” can be concretized because, “in the end, it is also an agreement between the Commission and the United Kingdom that will shape that fit”.
On October 9, Albares met with his newly appointed British counterpart, James Cleverly, to address the issue. The dialogue is “very advanced” and the Spanish government “has the will to reach a concrete agreement”, convinced of the need to “continue advancing in this area of shared prosperity”, the minister declared that day.
