Between the Rock and a hard place: Gibraltar’s new post-Brexit rules

The UK, Gibraltar and the EU are set to end “almost a decade of uncertainty for the British overseas territory since the Brexit referendum”, said London’s The Standard.

A draft treaty drawn up by the three governments aims to “protect British sovereignty, UK military autonomy and secure Gibraltar’s economic future”. Madrid will hope, however, that this deal drags the territory further towards Spanish control.

What is in the treaty?

Though not fully ratified, the draft treaty claims to tackle the “last major unresolved issue from Brexit”.

Under the new rules, the UK will allow Spanish border guards to check passports for those entering territory by air or sea. This means that these arrivals will present their passports to both British and Spanish authorities – in “dual border control checks” similar to those seen at Eurostar terminals at London’s St Pancras.

In effect, this “shifts the EU’s external border from the between Spain and Gibraltar to the Rock’s points of arrival”, said The Times. Gibraltar will not become part of the EU, but residents will be able to pass into Spain freely, and vice versa. The “barbed-wire fence” separating Gibraltar from Spain is “expected to be dismantled” after more than a century to create a “fluid border” for people and goods.

As a result, “the Rock effectively becomes part of the EU’s Schengen zone of passport-free movement”, said The Telegraph. By removing the land border, the “deal protects Gibraltar residents and Spaniards from post-Brexit rules”, meaning they are no longer subject to the visa-free travel limit of 90 days every 180 days.

In terms of customs, Gibraltar must now “align with EU single market rules” and be “subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice”. This means that “cigarettes and alcohol will no longer be as cheap on the Rock”. Gibraltar will keep its zero-VAT regime but a new “transaction tax” starting at 15% will apply to goods imported to the territory for sale.

Crucially, the draft agreement does not affect sovereignty of the territory. According to the treaty, the UK will “never enter into arrangements” where sovereignty would pass to another state against the “freely and democratically expressed wishes” of the Gibraltarian people.

Why now?

Gibraltar was ceded by Spain to the UK in 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht, and the resident population is “heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory”, said The Independent. The last time Gibraltar voted on the issue of sharing sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, “almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move”.

Spain had been due to apply the EU’s new automated “Entry/Exit” border system from April, which would include biometric checks on the border with Gibraltar, said the BBC. If no agreement had been reached, there would have been “mandatory passport checks” at air, land and sea borders, which would “devastate Gibraltar’s economy”, lead to “endless” entry queues and cost “hundreds of millions a year” to UK taxpayers, according to the proposed treaty.

Who will it affect?

Around 15,000 people – just under half of the territory’s 35,000 population – cross the border each day, mainly for work purposes. They will not need to have their passports checked and can pass through freely.

What has the reaction been?

The “safe and secure” proposals allow Gibraltar to “look to the future with confidence”, while “protecting our British way of life” and exploring “new opportunities for growth and prosperity”, said Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar.

British and Spanish diplomats hope “the treaty will improve bilateral relations”, said The Standard. However, Spain wants to “strengthen” its “legal claim on the Rock, leading the way for Madrid to wield greater influence over the territory”. Some in the UK, meanwhile, may see the deal as an “erosion of sovereignty”.

Any agreement that “hands Spain new powers over entry, residency, infrastructure or enforcement must be examined line by line by Parliament before it takes effect”, said shadow Foreign Office minister Wendy Morton.

What will happen next?

The treaty has been published in draft, so still needs to be reviewed by legal teams from all parties. Then it will have to be ratified by both the UK, Gibraltarian and European parliaments.

“Gibraltar’s government says it is hoping to provisionally apply the deal from 10 April,” said the BBC.