The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday extended for a period of two years one of the “adaptation to Brexit” measures, specifically the one related to unemployment benefits for Spanish cross-border workers, due to the fact that “to date no international agreement has been reached on this point with the United Kingdom in relation to Gibraltar.”
The Council of Ministers approved on December 29, 2020 the Royal Decree-Law with the measures for the adaptation of the Spanish legal system to the situation of “third State” of the United Kingdom after the end of the transitional period and the definitive withdrawal of this country from the European Union. The United Kingdom ceased to belong to the EU on January 31, 2020, following the ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, which provided for a transitional period from its entry into force until December 31, 2020.
The Royal Decree-Law of 2020 determines, in its article two, that the measures subject to a term of validity will cease to be in force by the mere passing of such term, unless the Government, by means of an agreement, proceeds to extend it. Thus, by means of various agreements of the Council of Ministers, the validity of certain measures provided for in the aforementioned Royal Decree-Law has been extended.
Among these measures is the one contained in Article 10, regarding access to unemployment benefits, which established, in its paragraph 3, that EU citizens who commute daily to Gibraltar to carry out a work activity and who maintain residence in Spain and are not within the scope of application of the Withdrawal Agreement, may access, until December 31, 2022, to unemployment benefits for the periods of insurance credited in Gibraltar before and after the end of the transitional period, without it being necessary for them to have last contributed in Spain.
“Given that to date no international agreement has been reached on this point with the United Kingdom in relation to Gibraltar and that the loss of validity of the measure, which will expire next December 31, 2022, may be detrimental to Spanish citizens and citizens of other Member States resident in Spain, it is considered necessary to extend the term of validity of this specific measure until December 31, 2024,” the Executive said.
The measures contemplated in the aforementioned provision will cease to apply if, prior to the date of termination of its validity, an EU agreement with the United Kingdom or a bilateral agreement between Spain and the United Kingdom with respect to Gibraltar regulating access to unemployment benefits and the corresponding reciprocal reimbursement mechanism within its material scope of application enters into force.
