South View of Gibraltar Rock
Agreement achieved in Brussels will allow free circulation of people and goods between Spain and British territory.
The United Kingdom and the EU reached a “Definitive political agreement” in relation to the territory of Gibraltar With the European space, following the British exit from the Community Bloc (Brexit), according to an officer.
The deal was reached in Brussels, in another negotiation meeting in which the Spanish government and the local Gibraltar executive was, a British enclave in southern Spain. The meeting was then reached “a definitive political agreement on the fundamental aspects of the future agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom in relation to Gibraltar”, according to a joint statement released by all parties.
Legal Limbo ends, 5 years later
Gibraltar was not included In the Commerce and Cooperation Pact that London and Brussels reached in late 2020 following the UK exit from the European Union (Brexit), so it was necessary to reach a separate agreement.
In December 2020, it was established that a Gibraltar agreement would be negotiated, which would involve the EU, the United Kingdom, Spain and the authorities of the English colony itself.
Gibraltar’s territory lives in a limbo legal Five years after Brexit, for continuing without being defined, so far, its statute and relationship with the European Union.
How will the free circulation of people and goods work
Under the agreement now reached, The free circulation of people and goods between British territory and Spain And the physical barrier (known as “the seal”) will be eliminated around Gibraltar, “the last wall in continental Europe.”
Regarding people, the control of entrances and exits in the Schengen space, which Gibraltar will be part, will be done at Porto and at the airport of British territory, thus eliminating the controls in the border passage. About 15,000 people cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar daily.
On the EU side, Spain will perform the Schengen controls. The British will have to present passports to the Spanish guards when they land in Gibraltar, according to the agreement.
As for goods, the principles that support the future customs union between the EU and Gibraltar support, among them, mechanisms of fiscal conversion.
The agreement has resulted from more than 20 negotiating meetings and is the only one that is pending between the two parts following the EU UK exit.
Live in the Spanish district of the field of Gibraltar about 270 thousand people And many of them cross the border daily to work in Gibraltar, in the British territory.
“The Seal” is the denomination used for the international border line in Gibraltar, just over a kilometer, with seals and border post, which currently requires control of people and goods to be crossed.
To maintain the flow of passage, passport controls are not being applied in the context of Brexit and an EU outer border.
Costa speaks of “Historical Conquest”
The President of the European Council, António Costahe greeted the agreement, speaking of a “historical achievement that will eliminate barriers” and preserve free circulation, “safeguarding the Schengen space, the unique market and the Customs Union of the EU,” wrote António Costa in a publication on social network X.
For the former Portuguese Prime Minister and now leader of the institution that joins the heads of government and state of the EU, this agreement “reaffirms the mutual commitment to open a new chapter in the relations between Union and the United Kingdom.”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenit has settled with the agreement stressing that it safeguard “the integrity” of the Schengen space and the European single market.
“I gather with the conclusion of the talks about the future agreement between the EU and the UK related to Gibraltar. This agreement safeguards Schengen’s integrity and the single market, while ensuring the stability, legal certainty and prosperity of the region,” Von Der Leyen wrote on social network X.
Also the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchezwelcomed the agreement announced today in Brussels.
“The EU, the United Kingdom and Spain have closed a global agreement for the benefit of citizens and our bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom. All without resigning Spanish claims about the isthmus and Gibraltar’s retrocession,” Sánchez wrote in X.
