Walter Finch
DELEGATES from the UK and Spain reached an agreement on the ‘general political lines’ of a deal over Gibraltar in a Brussels summit today.
The meeting between the respective foreign secretaries made ‘significant progress’ on ‘airport, goods
and mobility’ in a ‘constructive atmosphere.’
“Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the EU-UK Agreement,” the Gibraltar government said in a statement.
No final date has been set on a definitive deal between Gibraltar and the EU, but it is thought that the hardest hurdles have been overcome.
“The participants agreed that this was a productive day,” read the statement, which has reportedly been agreed by all parties.
“The meeting reaffirmed their shared commitment to concluding an EU-UK Agreement to secure the future prosperity of the whole region.
“This Agreement will bring confidence, legal certainty and stability to the lives and livelihoods of the people of the whole region, without prejudice to the parties’ legal positions.”
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and his delegation sat at the table with the Spanish Foreign Ministers, José Manuel Albares, the British Ministers, David Cameron, and the Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic.
Some of the many thorny issues that they need to overcome involve control of the airport, which the UK is unwilling to cede since it is home to an RAF airbase.
Meanwhile, the removal of the hard border – over which 27,000 people cross each day – is another goal.
