Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, admitted yesterday that the agreement on Gibraltar’s future membership in the EU will not be able to be signed before the British elections on July 4.
Albares has called a meeting for today, Tuesday, in Algeciras with the mayors of Campo de Gibraltar. The meeting will take place more than three weeks after Albares received on May 13 at the Ministry headquarters in Marqués de Salamanca (Madrid) the representatives of the Junta de Andalucía and the municipalities of Campo de Gibraltar to explain the evolution. of the negotiations on the future of Gibraltar in the EU.
Sources from the Ministry and the Campo de Gibraltar have not been able to specify to The Diplomat what topics the minister will raise during today’s meeting, and Albares himself did not want to give details during a press conference held yesterday at the Ministry headquarters with his colleague. Egyptian, Sameh Shoukry. However, he did admit that the meeting is related to “the advancement of the elections in the United Kingdom” and that one of his objectives is to “inform” the mayors that “the technical negotiations are being maintained.”
In any case, Albares also hinted that, if there is an agreement, it will not be signed before the British elections. “As soon as the new Government is in charge of the United Kingdom, whoever the British decide, I will meet with my new colleague to give the last push and achieve that agreement,” he assured, without further details.
Likewise, he assured that during his last meeting in Brussels with the Secretary of the Foreign Office, David Cameron, and the Vice President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic – the commissioner in charge of the EU negotiations on the future of Gibraltar after Brexit -, held on May 16, the three parties agreed to “advance in this technical work once the political framework is more or less concrete.”
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, announced on May 22 the end of the legislature and the advancement of the elections to next July 4. Following this announcement, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo (who participates in the negotiations within the British delegation), assured that the process “can continue” because the work of the technical teams is not interrupted and that there could be an agreement sooner. of the 4th of July.
However, observers of the dispute consulted by The Diplomat warned that the dissolution of the British Parliament represents a setback and that it would be highly criticized for the current British Government to now make such a far-reaching decision.
In any case, any agreement could only come into force when it was approved by the new Parliaments of the two parties involved in the negotiations, both the British and the European Parliament. The European Parliament is currently dissolved and it will be several months until the new Parliament that emerges from the European elections on June 9 is formed.
