Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his British counterpart, James Cleverly, said yesterday in Madrid that there is already “clear progress” in the negotiations on the future relationship of Gibraltar with the EU, but did not want to advance any date for the agreement. In any case, the head of Spanish diplomacy wanted to make it clear that “Spain is willing to close an agreement tomorrow” because “we can not be forever negotiating”, while the Foreign Office secretary warned that “if the latest proposal was acceptable, we would have already accepted it”.
Albares held his first bilateral meeting with Cleverly yesterday since the formation of the new Rishi Sunak government. The speed with which the meeting was announced and with which the press was summoned, urgently and late in the afternoon, led to expect the possibility of announcing an agreement in principle on Gibraltar (the official announcement would correspond to the European Commission and the British Government), but finally everything remained a mere declaration of intent: “The solution is already closer than before the meeting,” said the Spanish minister.
During the meeting, which was followed by a working dinner after the press conference, the two ministers discussed the “global proposal” of Spain and the European Commission for the creation of a shared prosperity zone, which had already been sent to the United Kingdom. As Albares explained to journalists, the global agreement foresees “the disappearance of the fence”, facilities for “the free movement of people and goods”, guarantees for “fair and loyal competition”, the fight against smuggling, “the joint use of the airport” and guarantees for the collection of pensions by border workers.
“We both agree to move forward as quickly as possible, to reach a definitive agreement” and, for Spain, “the priority is to reach a good agreement beneficial to all”, the Spanish minister continued. Regarding the deadlines and the possibility of reaching an agreement before December 31 of this year, Albares was categorical: “I never set specific dates; Spain is ready to close an agreement tomorrow, we have presented a proposal for a global agreement on the table and we hope to make definitive progress as soon as possible”, because “we cannot be negotiating forever”.
In any case, he warned, “I assure you that I would not continue negotiating if I noticed bad faith in the United Kingdom or lack of progress in each of the meetings we hold, but that is not what I have found, what I find is a constructive spirit in the United Kingdom to reach an agreement”. “We would not be here before you if we could not tell you that the solution is already closer than before the meeting,” he added.
Cleverly and Picardo
For his part, James Cleverly said that “the negotiation is taking place in an optimistic environment and much progress has been made” and said he was “firmly committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible”, an “objective that is also shared by the chief minister of Gibraltar”, Fabian Picardo. In any case, he warned, “I remain committed to the citizens of Gibraltar not to accept anything that calls into question the issue of sovereignty”.
Precisely, Fabian Picardo participated yesterday (by videoconference) in the meeting in Madrid between Albares and Cleverly, in which the two ministers “confirmed their common objective of reaching an agreement on a Treaty between the United Kingdom and the EU with respect to Gibraltar based on the Political Framework of December 2020”, as reported by the Government of the Rock in a press release. During the meeting, the chief minister said that a Treaty between the UK and the EU “can promote unprecedented economic growth in Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar region” and welcomed “the excellent negotiating dynamics that have been developing in the process of seeking a comprehensive agreement” to avoid “misunderstandings in the future” and solve the long-standing issues and “new problems that may arise as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU.”
Cleverly also declined to give dates or advance concrete results, and limited himself to reiterating on several occasions that the “last bangs” of the agreement still have to be “perfected”. “There are no set deadlines, the intention is to reach an agreement as soon as possible,” he continued. “If the last proposal were acceptable, we would have already accepted it, but good things take time and both sides want a win-win solution,” he added.
The global proposal and the Schengen stumbling block
Spain’s global proposal includes a series of provisions on the mobility of persons with the aim of abolishing the fence and guaranteeing the full fluidity of the transit of persons, provisions that require, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that “Spain will control, on behalf of Schengen, the external borders of Gibraltar and that, to this end, it may exercise certain functions and competences necessary to protect the integrity and security of the Schengen area”.
London and Gibraltar have already warned that they flatly oppose the possibility of the control and surveillance of the external borders of the Schengen area being established in the port, airport and waters of Gibraltar and being carried out by the Spanish security forces, as contained in current EU rules and in the mandate for negotiations approved in July 2021 by the European Commission. “If there is an extension of the Schengen area, the enforcement of controls on behalf of the EU corresponds to the competent authority, in this case the National Police,” Albares warned at the press conference. However, he recalled, the Spanish-British agreement of December 31, 2020 (which serves as the basis for negotiations) provides for “a transitional period of four years” with the presence of Spanish security forces assisted by the EU’s European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).
“The presence of Spanish security forces in the Schengen area is obviously an issue we want to resolve,” Cleverly admitted at the press conference. In any case, he added, “it is worthwhile for us to focus on the most important elements, because we want to reach an agreement with Schengen that facilitates the smooth mobility of people, goods and merchandise.”
Apart, the overall Spanish proposal, as announced last November 25 Albares himself during a meeting with local and regional authorities of Campo de Gibraltar, provides for the protection and improvement of the rights of workers and beneficiaries of social benefits in Gibraltar and raises, in customs matters, that the free movement of goods between the EU and Gibraltar be guaranteed, without increasing the risks for the EU internal market, particularly for economic operators in the area in terms of unfair competition or illicit trafficking, such as, for example, tobacco.
The conditions of fair and loyal competition are also preserved, so that economic operators in Gibraltar compete under similar conditions to those of other economic operators in the EU and, in particular, in the Campo de Gibraltar area. The text also includes provisions to combat money laundering, to ensure high standards of environmental protection and nuclear safety protection. It also provides for measures to prevent unfair economic competition and a financial mechanism for training and employment programs in the area.
