EU and UK sign the agreement that puts an end to the Gibraltar border

The signing ceremony took place in Brussels this Tuesday and was attended by the European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefcovič; the UK Minister of State for Europe, Stephen Doughty; the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabián Picardo.

The agreement reached a year ago provides for the complete removal of all physical barriers, checks and controls on people and goods travelling between Spain and Gibraltar. Dual border controls (Gibraltar and Schengen) will be established at the Rock’s port and airport, enabling the removal of all checks at the border crossing between Gibraltar and La Línea for the 15,000 people who, on average, cross the border every day.

With regard to goods, the parties agreed to maintain cooperation between customs authorities and to eliminate checks. They also agreed on the principles of indirect taxation to be applied in Gibraltar to products such as tobacco, which will serve to ‘prevent distortions’ between the territories, and a transaction tax of at least 15 per cent will be applied.

Speaking to the media in Brussels, the Spanish minister for foreign affairs emphasised that this “historic” signing heralds “a new era” in relations between Spain and Gibraltar. “This agreement guarantees the free movement of people and goods for ever and opens up a new path of opportunities for the Campo de Gibraltar region,” said Albares, who will travel to La Línea alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday.

The minister has given assurances that “everything is ready” on the Rock to remove the fence, one of the most important points of the agreement, which will come into force at midnight. For the minister, the deal reached demonstrates that “cooperation is more powerful than confrontation” and that the agreement “is committed to coexistence and to resolving people’s day-to-day problems”. However, he has emphasised that this does not alter Spain’s claim to sovereignty over Gibraltar “in the slightest”.

The European Commission, for its part, has stated in a press release that this agreement will bring “confidence and legal certainty” to the lives of people in the region and that it will “promote” shared prosperity and strengthen relations between Gibraltar and Spain.