The European Union, the United Kingdom and Gibraltar are still to agree on where Gibraltar stands regarding the Schengen area and Spain four years since the negotiations began.
An initial outline of the Treaty of Gibraltar between the three parties was drawn up on December 31, 2020. However, it still remains to be finalised, and is said to be bogged down in discussions over technical issues.
An article by El Mundo claims that one of the reasons for the delay is the absence of the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, from meetings to discuss the treaty, whilst the main minister of the Gibraltar, Fabián Picardo, attends all the negotiation meetings attended by representatives from the European Union and the United Kingdom.
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Albares is said to be of the opinion that forward progress is in the hands of the UK. However, the UK were eager to advance the finalisation of the Treaty earlier this year, in order to have an agreement prior to the implementation of the EU’s new border entry and exit system.
This new automated system for travellers was due to come into force on Sunday, November 10, 2024. However, this deadline was delayed due to Germany asking for more time to implement the new measures.
The UK had wanted to finalise the Treaty in advance of November 10, 2024, due to concerns about how the new EU system would affect Gibraltarians crossing the border into the Campo de Gibraltar to work each day.
Since the date for the new EU travel system has been delayed, talks over the Treaty of Gibraltar have also slowed and no date is in place for an agreement to be reached.
An obstacle which is delaying the finalisation of the Treaty is the sovereignty of Gibraltar. Although the sovereignty is not actually a part of the negotiations, aspects of the sovereignty cannot be ignored. In a recent article, El Mundo raised the shared use of Gibraltar airport by Spain and the UK as an example of such problems, saying ‘If Spain does not talk about sovereignty and accepts… the Gibraltar airport for shared use, it is recognising a territory that does not appear in the Treaty of Utretch’.
Last Christmas, the Governor of Gibraltar, Ben Bathurst, assured the citizens of the Rock that, ‘the negotiating teams in Gibraltar and the United Kingdom are doing extraordinary work to resolve these complex issues with our Spanish neighbors and with the European Union’ and that ‘Gibraltar’s voice is being heard at all levels and its interests are being very well represented’.
Tags: Gibraltar, Gibraltar border treaty
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Publish date : 2024-12-30 22:33:00
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