Brussels, April 12 (EFE). – The European Commission, the United Kingdom and Spain were able to agree on “general political lines” on the situation in Gibraltar after Brexit in areas such as Rock Airport or mobility.
This was announced after the meeting held today, Friday, in Brussels, by the Vice-President of the Executive Commission, Maros Sefcovic, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albarez, and the British Foreign Minister, David Cameron.
“The discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere and significant progress was made. The general political lines were agreed upon, as well as on the airport, shipping and mobility,” said Sefcovic, Albarez, Cameron and Gibraltar's Prime Minister Fabian Picardo, who also participated. In today's meeting.
The four added that negotiations would continue “over the coming weeks” to conclude an EU-UK agreement on Gibraltar.
They noted that the meeting reaffirmed the “shared” commitment of both parties to conclude an agreement “to ensure the future prosperity of the entire region.”
The status of Gibraltar, a British colony in southern Spain since 1713, was excluded from the agreement on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, and the three parties involved remain in negotiations, eight years after the Brexit referendum.
The use of the airport and customs control has been the focus of the talks of the two negotiating teams for months due to the great complexity and hesitation on the part of both parties.
Friday's meeting was held in the context of a good atmosphere between Brussels and London, after the dissolution of relations carried out by the government of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The Spanish Foreign Minister stated after the meeting that today is “not just another day” in negotiations on the situation in Gibraltar after Britain’s exit from the European Union.
“Today is not just another day, not just another day of negotiations. Today was a very important day, in which important progress was made and in which we all agreed, once again, in the coming weeks to continue working to reach an agreement.” “The agreement,” Al-Bars told the media.
He said he believed there were still “a few weeks of work” left to finalize the agreement, but insisted that “general political lines” had been agreed on Friday.
The head of Spanish diplomacy said: “We have already reached agreements on the general political lines at the airport, regarding goods and movement. We have agreed not to go into details or give more details about what these agreed upon political lines are.”
Noting that the European Commission and Spain are “fully aligned” in the negotiations, he explained that they have decided “that all the texts that we present and that we exchange will at all times be joint texts” in the coming weeks.
He added that this agreement “will be beneficial to all residents of Campo Gibraltar, including the 300,000 Spanish citizens living there” and that it “fully protects our sovereign position.”
The minister admitted that they had not set a specific date for closing the agreement, and was asked if he wanted to conclude the agreement before the European elections scheduled for June 6-9. Albaris replied that he would like to close it “tomorrow.” “
Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo also highlighted the “significant progress in a very positive and constructive atmosphere” they had achieved today, but apologized for being unable to provide further details “because the negotiations are not over yet”.
He expected that “weeks will remain to end these negotiations with a legal text that reflects the general political lines that we agreed upon today.”
Picardo said, “We have a history (with Spain) full of difficulties, and we must ensure a future full of opportunities and partnerships, not difficulties. This is what we intend to achieve.”
The agreement on the rock, which extends over time, is key to more than 32,000 Gibraltarians, more than 270,000 residents of the Spanish border area of Campo de Gibraltar, 15,000 workers who cross the border fence every day and entire businesses. That interact on both sides of small habits.
(c) EFE Agency
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