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Date Published: 17/12/2021
ARCHIVED - Spain and UK extend temporary agreement on Gibraltar
Negotiations between Madrid and London over the Rock will resume in 2022
At a working dinner between Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his British counterpart, Elizabeth Truss, on Wednesday evening, December 15, it was agreed to extend the memorandum of understanding that regulates relations with Gibraltar until the new year.
The current informal agreement is due to expire on December 31 and while Spain and the UK hoped to resolve the outstanding issues by then, the complexity of the matter has meant that after four rounds of talks, a common objective hasn’t been reached. Both parties expect to have a formal treaty finalised in the first quarter of 2022. The Gibraltarian government, for its part, has set the goal for before Easter.
He tratado con @trussliz las negociaciones del Acuerdo entre UE y RU así como los acuerdos bilaterales sobre #Gibraltar
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) December 16, 2021
🇪🇸y🇬🇧trabajamos por la relación comercial, la movilidad de nuestros ciudadanos tras el #Brexit y una zona de prosperidad compartida en el Campo de Gibraltar
As indicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, London and Madrid both consider that "the first four negotiating rounds have made significant progress", "they have been very productive and reflect the willingness of the parties to reach an agreement as soon as possible".
In addition to the treatment of the Rock post-Brexit, Albares and Truss addressed several bilateral agreements including the regulation of police and customs, environmental cooperation and the smuggling of tobacco and other products between Spain and Gibraltar.
According to the British Embassy in Madrid, Truss reaffirmed during the meeting the position of the United Kingdom "on the sovereignty of Gibraltar" while acknowledging that any future agreement must respect European law as well as the legal positions of Spain and the United Kingdom.
While the Brexit negotiations left Gibraltar out of the common market that guarantees the free movement of people and goods, the status quo has been maintained for almost a year while the EU negotiates a new treaty for the Rock. Now, while a hard border has been avoided, Brussels is pushing for an agreement on managing and controlling the port and airport.
Más información en: https://t.co/Bva8WtXoAM pic.twitter.com/uOwi9i3wmV
— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) December 16, 2021
Image: Archive
staff.inc.and
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