In April 2018, Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis announced that Spain hoped to sign a bilateral agreement with the UK on Gibraltar before October so as not to hinder a transition agreement to Brexit. Talks between London and Madrid have progressed well. While reiterating Spain`s long-term goal of « restoring » Gibraltar, he said Spain would not hold Gibraltar « hostage » to EU negotiations. [22] This strategy is bearing fruit in the UK. Spain has obtained deeper EU involvement in the cross-border cooperation aspects of the dispute. The result was a provision of the Gibraltar Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement of January 2020 covering cooperation aspects, which are also regulated by the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as a Spanish-British and European institutional structure. This manifests itself in a new combination of « hard » law and EU treaty and « soft » law and Spanish-British memoranda. There is a delay from the initial forecasts, which provided that the treaty between the UK and the EU on Gibraltar would have been approved and would have entered into force by July 2021. The issues are, of course, very complex and, in addition, the `agreement in principle` requires the complementary conclusion of other agreements between Spain and the UK so that Brussels can assess its technical feasibility and formally adopt the negotiating mandate, which would launch the negotiation phase of the UK-EU Treaty on Gibraltar.
When the UK-EU TREATY on Gibraltar is concluded and enters into force, it will create a strong and stable international and European legal framework, with a remarkable integration of Gibraltar into a common European territory in cooperation with Spain. 4 Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, 30.XII.2020. OJ L 444 of 31.XII.2020. The objective of the negotiations is to conclude a comprehensive and balanced agreement between the EU and the UK on Gibraltar, taking into account gibraltar`s geographical location and specificities. The European Council published a set of guidelines for the EU27 on the withdrawal negotiations. In these guidelines, fundamental principle 22 states: « After the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom shall apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom. » [13] Pro-Brexit Conservative MP. Jack Lopresti found it shameful that the EU was trying to give Spain an effective veto over the future of British territory, ignoring the will of the people of Gibraltar. [14] Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reaffirmed the UK`s commitment to Gibraltar. [15] The Council of the EU on Tuesday gave the green light to the European Commission`s mandate, paving the way for formal negotiations between the bloc and the UK to conclude « a broad and balanced agreement » « without prejudice to issues of sovereignty and jurisdiction ».
Gibraltar`s sovereignty was contested by Spain and Great Britain. The area was not included in last year`s trade deal between the EU and the UK, and a separate deal is to be reached. The EU has traditionally had a presence in the strait, albeit in a subordinate role. This is most evident on territorial issues, where the EU has tended to play a supporting and facilitating role in interstate agreements. In bilateral relations between Spain and the United Kingdom, more delicate issues remain, in particular the elephant in the room, which Spain has never addressed: the very serious risks that British military bases (naval, air and intelligence bases) pose to the Bay of Algeciras and its 300,000 inhabitants. These include the RAF military airport with the runway`s proximity to the residential areas of La Línea, as well as RAF ammunition, weapons depots, fuel and explosives stored at the airport. There is also the naval base where nuclear-powered submarines are docked and repaired,8 and even submarines equipped with intercontinental nuclear missiles.9 There has been no agreement with Spain on what to do in the event of an accident, and civil emergency or evacuation plans have not been coordinated with Spain. There is also no democratic control by the Spanish parliament (unlike the agreements reached with the United States on the military bases of Rota and Morón) over these British bases and their dangers.
Brexit, the UK`s exit from the EU, consists of a series of treaties and agreements designed to facilitate an orderly exit. Negotiations started in 2017 and are still ongoing for the future relationship between the EU and the UK. These historical circumstances have led to the need to give Gibraltar a new European status, which must obtain the consent of Spain, since according to clause 24, any agreement relating to Gibraltar requires a prior agreement between Spain and the United Kingdom. A Spanish diplomat stressed that an agreement on airlines` landing rights for flights between the EU and the UK, agreed during Brexit negotiations, would not apply to Gibraltar International Airport. [26] However, from 2018-2019, all flights to and from the airport to and from the UK or Morocco (not affected by Brexit) and none to the EU. As an alternative, Malaga Airport (distance 125 kilometers (78 miles)) offers many flights from the EU. In order to appease the British, who rejected the first draft mandate, the Council agreed to include a reference to Spain asking the border agency Frontex to help it control the borders for the first four years of the agreement. A particular question for the future is the question of sovereignty and whether the EU should intervene as a necessary element in the search for imaginative solutions to resolve the historic dispute.6 In any case, Spain is opening possible windows to a negotiated solution on this path of cooperation, which opened with the British agreement under the normative aegis of the EU. the « version of the sovereignty of the 21. 7 The Gibraltar Protocol and the four Memoranda signed in 2018 created an institutional system or format for cross-border cooperation on the most urgent issues to be resolved, so that it can be said that the necessary modus vivendi with Gibraltar with this Withdrawal Agreement (plus memoranda of understanding) consists of EU law.3 It would be reasonable to adopt this original modus vivendi, was created with the kind permission of the EU and revolves around the international organisation as a mediator to be extended to the Treaty on the future relationship between the EU and the UK with regard to Gibraltar. For the purposes of this Treaty, an agreement in principle of 31 December 2021 has been drawn up which aims to strengthen the integration of Gibraltar and the EU into the Schengen area. The « Agreement in Principle » of 31.
December 2020 agreed between Spain and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar and Brexit5 is a tool to define the essential content of this future TREATY between the EU and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar. It is an « understanding of the fundamental elements » for the future relationship between the EU and Gibraltar and serves as a means of developing negotiating guidelines for this specific treaty, which has not yet been developed. A third treaty will be the specific treaty between the UK and the EU for Gibraltar. Although negotiations have not yet officially started, an agreement in principle was adopted on 31 December 2020. « By presenting this draft mandate, we are fulfilling the political commitment we have made to Spain to start negotiations on a separate agreement between the EU and the UK on Gibraltar. After Brexit, certain agreements will apply during the transition period. However, after the transition period, agreements between stakeholders still need to be negotiated. [33] Regarding the future relationship, the EU clarified that « Gibraltar will not be included in the scope of future EU-UK agreements » and that « separate agreements between the EU and the UK on Gibraltar require the prior consent of Spain ».
This is contained in a declaration by the European Council and the European Commission, which is part of the agreements reached at the European Council on 25 November. After Brexit, all agreements between the EU and the UK on Gibraltar will require Spain`s prior consent in accordance with clause 24 of the European Council Guidelines for Brexit negotiations, which state: « After the UK`s withdrawal from the Union, no agreement between the EU and the UK will apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the UK ». . . .
