Delete
José Manuel Albares, meets his British counterpart, David Lammy. L.V.
Spain's foreign minister says Gibraltar talks will resume 'as soon as possible' and from the point where they left off
Politics

Spain's foreign minister says Gibraltar talks will resume 'as soon as possible' and from the point where they left off

Albares stressed that both Spain and the United Kingdom were keen to conclude the agreement soon

La Voz

Cadiz

Wednesday, 24 July 2024, 15:50

The Spanish minister of foreign affairs, European Union and cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has said that the negotiation of the agreement on Gibraltar's future relationship with the EU will resume "as soon as possible" now that the change of government has taken place in the United Kingdom. Talks would start from the point where they left off earlier this year, he added

He said this in Brussels on Monday at the end of the meeting of EU foreign ministers, after being asked about his contact with the new British foreign secretary David Lammy, with whom he met when they were both in Washignton for the Nato summit on 11 July.

According to Albares, both agreed to "resume talks as soon as possible", but the British foreign secretary "needs time", as does the new Labour government's negotiating team. The Spanish minister said Lammy showed he was well aware of "the points of agreement" that had been reached with his predecessor, Conservative David Cameron.

"A lot of progress had been made up to the moment when early elections were called in the United Kingdom and we will resume from that point onwards," added the minister, who pointed out that in any case "the talks have never stopped, they have continued at a technical level".

The idea of the two governments, said Albares, is to "take [the talks] up again at all levels and with much more intensity", as both share the view that the agreement, which will regulate Gibraltar's future relationship with the EU after Brexit, "is something good and beneficial" both for the Rock and for the Campo de Gibraltar.

"I am ever optimistic," he responded, when asked if he believes that the agreement can be concluded before the end of this year, but he made it clear that this is not something that is the sole responsibility of Spain, given that it is the European Commission that negotiates on behalf of the EU-27 with London.

On the table is "a joint proposal from the Commission with Spain", but on the other side is the United Kingdom, recalled Albares, who for more than a year has been arguing that the "ball is in London's court".

Willingness to close the deal soon

He admitted that he does not have "a crystal ball" to predict when the agreement will be reached, but he did want to make it clear that both he and Lammy want "the deal to happen as soon as possible".

On 16 May, Brussels hosted a second meeting between Albares and Cameron, together with Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, at which Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo was also present to try to conclude the agreement.

Then, after six hours of talks, it was reported that there had been "important advances and additional areas of agreement", and the parties noted that the deal was "ever closer". However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to bring forward the elections to 4 July put negotiations on hold once again, as happened last year with the Spanish elections.

The talks, which are based on the so-called New Year's Eve Agreement sealed by Madrid and London on 31 December 2020, is being carried out with the utmost discretion to avoid derailing the agreement.

The ultimate objective is the creation of a zone of shared prosperity between the Rock and the Campo de Gibraltar, and the abolition of the border was envisaged. In exchange, access controls to the Schengen area should be moved to the port and airport of Gibraltar, where Frontex agents would initially be present. This is one of the most delicate points, along with the use of the airport and the military base on the Rock.

Reporta un error en esta noticia

* Campos obligatorios

surinenglish Spain's foreign minister says Gibraltar talks will resume 'as soon as possible' and from the point where they left off