Brussels (EuroEFE).- Spain, the United Kingdom and the European Union made “significant progress” on Friday on the relationship with Gibraltar after Brexit, but did not close the political agreement that had been speculated on in recent hours.
“The negotiations took place in a constructive atmosphere and significant progress was achieved,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said in a joint statement. United Kingdom, David Cameron; The Prime Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, and the Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic.
every one of them They committed to continuing negotiations in the coming weeks “to conclude an EU-UK agreement.”After agreeing on Friday on “general political lines, including the airport, goods and transportation.”
“The participants agreed that it was a ‘productive day’, after about four hours of negotiations.
The meeting reaffirmed the “shared commitment” to concluding an agreement that “ensures a future of prosperity for the entire region” and “will bring confidence, legal certainty and stability to people’s lives and quality of life across the region, without bias.” In the joint statement, the two parties concluded the legal positions of each party.
The status of Gibraltar, a British colony in southern Spain since 1713, was excluded from the UK's withdrawal agreement from the European Union. The three parties involved are still negotiating, eight years after the Brexit referendum.
The use of the airport and customs control has been the focus of the negotiating teams’ talks 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. Paris told the media: “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 conclude the agreement.”
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.
“We have already reached agreements on the general policy lines at the airport, regarding cargo and movement. The head of Spanish diplomacy said: “We agreed not to go into details or provide further details about what those agreed upon political lines are.”
He pointed this out The European Commission and Spain are “fully aligned” in the negotiationsThey explained that they had 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” that was reached today, but they apologized for not being able to provide more details “because the negotiations have not yet ended.”
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.”
He added: “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,” Picardo said.
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.
Edited by Sandra Municio
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