EU and UK make significant progress on broad Gibraltar policy lines
Aida Sanchez Alonso
Several years after the United Kingdom's 2020 exit from the European Union, the nal piece of the Brexit puzzle is beginning to take shape.
This nal piece, that of the bloc's relationship with Gibraltar, is now coming together following a four-way meeting between European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, the Spanish and UK foreign ministers, José Manuel Albares and David Cameron, as well as Gibraltar's Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo.
In a joint statement after a unique format meeting, they con rmed that the general policy lines, including critical issues like airports, goods, and mobility, have been agreed upon - key sticking points in the EU-UK agreement. Both Albares and Picardo refrained from providing further details, with the Spanish minister saying, "the negotiation is at its peak and we want to protect it."
Picardo noted that "very little time is left" for the nal agreement, though he did not specify a date. In their statements to the press, both he and Albares emphasised the "positive" and "constructive" nature of their discussions.
Negotiations are expected to continue in the coming weeks.
According to Picardo, the agreement will bring a "new dynamic and a new relationship" with Spain, which could begin with the demolition of the fence that separates the British territory from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula.
"This agreement is going to be good for the entire population of Campo de Gibraltar, including 300,000 Spanish citizens who live there, who are the ones who guide what we are doing at all times", Albares argued.
Although the Spanish foreign minister insists that "it perfectly safeguards their position of sovereignty", the negotiations did not include a debate on the ownership of the Rock.
The nal frictions
Picardo explained that the current document being drafted is "consistently based on the New Year's Eve Agreement," referring to an initial agreement reached at the end of 2020 between the UK and the EU that ultimately was not formalised into legal text. In doing so, they aim to resolve a situation that has lasted more than three years.
Gibraltar waits on EU to determine post-Brexit future Schengen deal set to expire
Removing the fence would be a major change for Gibraltar, easing daily crossings for the 15,000 border workers. Under the proposed changes, border controls would shift to Gibraltar’s port and airport, and Frontex, the European agency responsible for managing the bloc's borders, would oversee Gibraltarians according to the New Year's Eve Agreement.
Gibraltar, like Northern Ireland, became one of the UK territories with a land border adjacent to the European Union following Brexit. The UK exited the EU in February 2020, but discussions about its land borders continued for years. The nal agreement addressing the situation in Northern Ireland was concluded about a year ago. with
been very critical of the reform package since it was rst proposed four years ago. I’ll come to this criticism in a minute. But rst, are there any positive elements of the Pact?
Geddie: Well, it's positive in that we do have now an agreement, positive in that the ongoing negotiations have come to a close. But in terms of the technical details of the agreement, for us, this is not at all positive. What we have really here is a downgrading of asylum law. We have also, you know, a rollout of detention, (an) increase of detention and normalisation of detention, across Europe. And we have what is really kind of a lowest common denominator approach. There is really (an) opportunity for Europe as a group of 27 states with a common approach, we think, to come up with something really, very much better.
Euronews: You’re saying the Pact would put people at heightened risk of human rights violations - why is that so?
Geddie: Exactly. Because, I mean, what we're seeing also is with this pact that there's going to be less legal support for people when they arrive. They'll be put through an accelerated procedure. And with this pact, EU member states have created this legal ction of non-entry, so that a person can be on European territory physically, but actually denied by the pact the protections and rights which align with that. That's also something that is very concerning even beyond migration, just for rule of law and human rights in Europe more generally.
Euronews: Yet the defenders of the reform consider it a fair improvement between far-right obstructionism and far-left fantasy solutions. Where do you come down on this?
Geddie: I think we would like to see kind of less pride from legislators on reaching an agreement and actually more responsibilities about the real consequences of this agreement. And for us, it will really not do anything to improve Europe's common response to migration and protect all peoples at borders. We've long been calling on the EU institutions and member states to move away from shortterm political interests, which sideline human rights, and really look (at) like a longer-term futureproof facility. Again, there are a lot of criticisms on both sides.
Euronews: Worldwide, more than 110 million people are forcibly displaced - what can we expect when the Pact comes into force in 2026?
Geddie: These standards are much lower than we would have liked, and which actually international law and international refugee law require. It is important, I think, that the Commission starts also enforcing the standards that it has in place. It's not that we've come to 2024 with no EU standards or international standards. We have those. But what we have is member states opting in and opting out and agrantly often violating these standards. So, a key thing for us will be enforcement, accountability for standards that do exist.