Eduardo González
The Foreign Ministers of Spain and the United Kingdom, José Manuel Albares and David Cameron, agreed yesterday to resume negotiations on the future relationship between Gibraltar and the European Union, but did not establish any “deadline” for the signing of the agreement, which, according to Albares, is “so close that only specific aspects remain”.
Albares held a meeting with Cameron yesterday, the first since his appointment as British Foreign Minister, in the margins of the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, held in Brussels. The interview took place a day after the two held their first telephone conversation, in which they agreed to hold a meeting in Brussels focused “practically and exclusively” on the agreement on Gibraltar, as the Spanish minister told the press at the end of the ministerial.
Negotiations have been at a standstill for several months due to the early general elections in Spain and the elections held on the Rock last October. Apart from this, the talks have made little progress due to London’s reservations on matters such as the presence of members of the Spanish Security Forces at passenger controls at the port and airport or its refusal to allow any Spanish control over the movements of personnel at the Royal Navy base on the Rock, which the Spanish authorities consider essential to be able to exercise its powers as a Schengen area border. In addition, there are still no agreements on matters such as tax harmonization or the environment, among others.
According to Albares, during yesterday’s conversation they addressed, above all, “the only aspects that separate us from having a definitive agreement, for example, the formula for the joint use of the airport, on which we have been exchanging points of view and opinions, and other aspects that remain to be delimited” and that “for diplomatic discretion we keep for negotiation”.
When asked if these pending issues include border control (Gibraltar is not part of the Schengen area, which would require border controls at both the airport and the port of the Rock by Spain or the European border agency, Frontex, for an initial period of four years), Albares simply replied: “when everything is agreed, I guarantee that I will be the first to come to see them to explain each point of the agreement, now we will let the teams work”.
According to the minister, “we are so close that what is left are specific, punctual aspects”. “Most of the agreement is already agreed, but, and I know it seems like a mantra, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” he continued. He also recalled that Spain “has put on the table” a global agreement “balanced and generous” covering “all aspects governing the daily life of Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar and to consolidate this area of shared prosperity.” “What it is about right now is to find formulas that are effective to achieve that goal that we all want,” he added.
Regarding whether possible dates for the signing of the agreement have been considered, Albares specified: “I am not able to give a time horizon at the moment, because with the telephone conversation yesterday (Monday), the face-to-face meeting we had today (yesterday) and the instructions we have both given, he to the British team and I to the Spanish negotiating team, negotiations that had been paralyzed for some months are resumed”. Furthermore, although Spain has the last word, he recalled that the agreement has to be closed between the United Kingdom and the European Commission “and we are going to have – he recalled – elections for a new Commission in June” and, therefore, we will have to take into account tells “the start of the campaign for the European elections”
In any case, he pointed out, “we have already spent more than enough time talking about the Spanish proposal, the proposal that Spain has put on the table” and, therefore, “it should not be delayed any longer because this is an absolutely transitory situation and this is how it was conceived”. “The normal situation should be the agreement or, if the United Kingdom does not want the agreement, the application of European legislation,” he added.
According to Albares, the two ministers showed “exactly the same will” to reach an agreement. “On the Spanish side, the agreement is on the table and is transparent and what remains for the UK is to agree on all those points, but we are very close,” he added. British diplomatic sources consulted by the Europa Press agency yesterday expressed London’s will that there can be an agreement on Gibraltar “as soon as possible” and that materializes what was agreed by Spain and the United Kingdom on New Year’s Eve 2021.
