Eduardo González
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has expressed this Wednesday his wish that the Government of the United Kingdom accept the “balanced and generous” agreement proposed by Spain and the EU on Gibraltar before the new entry and exit controls come into force on November 10 throughout the Schengen Area.
“We have been negotiating the agreement for many years, I am the fourth foreign minister to negotiate it, and it is time for the United Kingdom to say yes to an agreement that is balanced and generous and that we have put on the table for a long time,” said Albares at a press conference after meeting at the Ministry headquarters with the eight mayors of Campo de Gibraltar and with representatives of the Junta de Andalucía (Government of Andalusia) to discuss the latest developments regarding the negotiations between London and Brussels (with the intervention of Spain) for the future integration of Gibraltar in the EU after Brexit.
According to the minister, the “shared coexistence agreement” presented by Spain “and by the EU” includes Gibraltar within the Schengen Area, but, he warned, it is the United Kingdom “that has to decide whether it prefers that or prefers that from November 10 there is this entry system for Gibraltar.”
There is one month left before the new controls within the Schengen Area come into force, which could generate long queues at the entrances and exits between Gibraltar and Campo de Gibraltar. Since the UK left the EU, and pending the conclusion of negotiations, the border crossing has been governed by the same rules as before Brexit, but the Gibraltar authorities have already warned that, as of 10 November, Spain will be forced to apply the new conditions for access to the Schengen Area.
Under these rules, non-EU citizens who want to cross the border must show a valid passport, justify the purpose and conditions of their stay in Spain, have sufficient means of subsistence and prove that they do not intend to remain in the Schengen Area for more than 90 days in any 180-day period, which would make life very difficult for the many Gibraltarians who have a second home in Spain.
The minister did not specify on Wednesday whether there has been progress in the talks between the United Kingdom and the EU and limited himself to indicating that the working teams remain in “permanent contact” and that the Government has “the best disposition” to achieve a global agreement “that brings confidence, legal security, stability and quality of life” to all the inhabitants of the region. This agreement, he specified, would include the free movement of people and goods, the “physical elimination of the Fence” and the shared use of the airport, “safeguarding the legal position and the claim of sovereignty of Spain”.
On the other hand, Albares has asked the mayors and the representatives of the Junta de Andalucía (with whom he met for more than an hour and a half) for “institutional loyalty” and that they “join the negotiating efforts of the Government”, because, he warned, “more than ever we must work together” to achieve an agreement that benefits the 300,000 Andalusians who live in the Gibraltar countryside.
Since the start of the talks, two of the main points of contention have been the removal of the Fence and Gibraltar’s de facto entry into Schengen. This second step would require the transfer of border controls to the port and the airport. The United Kingdom is opposed to Spanish agents carrying out these controls, and, therefore, an alternative has been proposed that the task be carried out by the European Border Agency (Frontex) for a transitional period of four years. Another point of contention is the use of Gibraltar airport, which is located on the isthmus that links the Rock with the rest of the peninsula, a territory whose sovereignty is disputed by Spain and the United Kingdom. The Spanish Government has requested the shared use of the airport to benefit the entire region, but the United Kingdom rejects this proposal, considering that it calls into question its position regarding sovereignty.
The Junta asks for a “Plan B”
After the meeting, the Minister of the Presidency of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, did not want to take a position on the information provided by Albares because, he said, “there are many details that are still to be known” and the minister “has reiterated to us the same thing as on other occasions.” “The assessment we can make is that there is nothing new,” he declared. “We have been informed that decisions are awaited,” he added.
“From the Junta de Andalucía we want the agreement, we are in favour, but not just any agreement,” warned Sanz. “We want the best agreement and we want it to be ambitious and fight for the interests of the people of Campo de Gibraltar,” but “what we do have is a clear date, November 10, when the circumstances would change,” he added.
For this reason, he said, “we request that all scenarios be considered,” whether an agreement is reached (which, “as it is, is insufficient for Campo de Gibraltar”) or if it is ultimately not achieved. In that case, he warned, “a plan B must be considered, which involves strengthening the Campo de Gibraltar” and which “must contemplate the demand to the EU” to approve “a special fiscal statute” for the region that allows “balancing the positions” between two areas located “only ten meters away”, one of which, the Campo de Gibraltar, is “clearly at a disadvantage in attracting investments”. “The minister tells us that this agreement seeks shared prosperity, but we run the risk of signing an agreement for shared inequality”, he concluded.
Picardo
For his part, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said on Wednesday, in response to Albares’ words, that his government “has put compromise arrangements on the table which respect the historic positions of all sides and guarantee the safety and security of the Schengen Area and the integrity of the Single Market.”
“Spain has to decide whether it accepts these reasonable and well balanced proposals or whether it insists on positions which they know we cannot accept and, in that way, condemn us all to controls that will make the life of workers and ordinary people harder,” he continued.
“It would be a pity to see that socialists in Government in all relevant capitals cannot come to an agreement and instead fail to deliver a historic treaty that would be an example of progress in a world racked by conflict,” he said. “I remain optimistic and hope that our reasonable proposals, or a derivation of them, can be made to work for all parties,” he concluded.
