<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish Government yesterday sent the message to the United Kingdom and Gibraltar that it will not accept a kind of custom agreement with the European Union on the future of the Rock after Brexit.</strong></h4> The message was sent yesterday from Luxembourg by the <strong>State Secretary for the EU, Fernando Sampedro,</strong> who, taking advantage of a question from journalists on the negotiations between the European Union and Switzerland to establish a closer relationship, commented that Spain is not in favour of each party selecting which issues it is convenient or not to deal with in an international negotiation. Taking the matter to its own ground, specifically to the final phase of negotiations between Brussels and London on the future of Gibraltar, Sampedro said verbatim: <strong>"Spain in general defends that, in agreements with neighbouring and friendly countries, as we also do with the United Kingdom, also in relation to the future of Gibraltar, do not make exceptions, do not allow an individual selection of the issues to be dealt with in the agreement."</strong> What the Secretary of State came to say is that the United Kingdom and Gibraltar must accept the possible agreement in its entirety, and not the points that interest them, especially as regards the inclusion of the colony in the Schengen Area, of free movement of people and goods, which would mean the removal of the Fence. Spain accepted in the New Year's Eve agreement of 2020 that this removal is the objective, but does not renounce the presence of Spanish police officers, in the entry and exit controls of the port and airport, something that the British and Gibraltarians do not like, who see it as a reversal of their sovereignty. This is one of the points on which the negotiation is bogged down, and last Monday, it was highlighted in a debate in the British Parliament, raised days after the chief inspector of the Police at the Fence decided to stamp the passports of the Gibraltarians who wanted to go to Spain. The measure was replicated by Fabian Picardo's government, asking for passports for cross-border workers, until the Spanish order was revoked. In that debate, in the House of Commons, <strong>the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development, Anneliese Dodds</strong>, said that her government is committed to reaching an agreement with the European Commission as soon as possible, but warned: "We maintain our firm support for Gibraltar and will only accept those terms with which the Gibraltarian government is satisfied." That same Monday, the chief minister of the British colony, Fabian Picardo, during the reception for Gibraltar Day in London, said that, despite the challenges of Brexit, his government has presented proposals that are "fair, balanced and respectful of the Schengen acquis and the single market." And he assured that these proposals do not require "any concessions in terms of sovereignty."
