The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has asked the European Commission on Thursday to speed up negotiations with the United Kingdom to close the agreement that defines the EU’s relations with Gibraltar after the lack of progress after thirteen months.
In his visit to the EU capital to meet with the Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations, Maros Sefcovic, responsible for relations with the British, the Foreign Minister has claimed him to increase the pace of meetings with the United Kingdom and has presented the «global Spanish proposal» for the Rock and the area of Campo de Gibraltar.
«There is a global proposal that I have moved and that the Commission has to make his own and provide content to the agreement,» said Albares, while insisting on the need to complete the dialogue between London and Brussels and start drafting the agreement soon.
However, he pointed out that he perceives «political will on both sides» to move forward and was «positive» about the reactivation of the talks, which have been subject to several changes of government in London and to the crisis caused by the pandemic.
Madrid and London announced in December 2020 an interim agreement for Gibraltar to avoid chaos on January 1, 2021, when the Brexit will be consummated without having previously defined a specific framework for the relationship of the territory with the European Union.
At that time, Spain said it had reached an agreement with the United Kingdom to remove the land barriers and announced that agents of the European Border Control Agency would assume control of entries and exits through the airport and port of Gibraltar.
The European Commission, however, in its proposal for a negotiating mandate for the 27, left the responsibility for controlling these crossings exclusively in the hands of the Spanish authorities if the fence was dropped, something which irritated the British government, which considered this to be «unacceptable».
