UK confident EU governments see Gib treaty as ‘a really welcome step’ in troubled times

The UK’s Minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty, said he believed European governments and parliamentarians saw the Gibraltar treaty as “a really welcome step forward” at a time when the UK and the EU were resetting their post-Brexit relationship against the backdrop of “very significant threats”.

Mr Doughty was speaking to the Chronicle after flying to Gibraltar on Wednesday morning on a lightning visit to attend the National Day rally after greeting people during a stroll down Main Street in the company the Governor, Lieutenant General Sir Ben Bathurst, and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

Mr Doughty said negotiators were “working at pace” on the legal text of the treaty and that “a huge amount” of the work was already done, adding the aim was to finalise it “as soon as possible”.

He declined to put a date on when the text might be ready “because it's important we get this right and the fine details are always very, very important”.

Once the text is finalised, the ratification would be a matter for parliamentarians in the European Parliament, the UK Parliament and in the Gibraltar Parliament, which will first debate a motion calling on the UK to initiate the process.

“And it's right that a detailed agreement like this has proper scrutiny,” Mr Doughty told the Chronicle.

“But I certainly feel, in my experience speaking to European counterparts, that they see this as a really welcome step forward.”

Mr Doughty said his conversations with ministers in European governments and MEPs in the European Parliament suggested “there is a broad welcome across the spectrum”.

The Gibraltar treaty, he said, came alongside the reset in relations between the UK and the EU, highlighting too last week’s “very successful” UK/Spain summit where both countries agreed to strengthen their bonds in areas ranging from trade to security and defence.

“So I think everybody’s in a spirit of positivity at the moment.”

That sentiment was echoed by Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, in an interview with Cadena Ser radio this week, who said the ratification process could come in the tail end of 2025, with implementation “some time in 2026”.

"What I am absolutely sure of — I can’t imagine it being any other way — is that all the Spanish political groups represented in the European Parliament, absolutely all of them, are going to help the Government so that this ratification happens as quickly as possible, and they are going to vote in favour,” he said.

Asked if he was sure about that, Mr Albares insisted: "I think so. Why would a Spaniard want harm for Spain? It doesn’t cross my mind for even a second.”

In his conversation with the Chronicle, Mr Doughty stressed the importance of the Gibraltar treaty in the wider context of the UK’s relationship with its EU partners at a time of conflict on Europe’s eastern border and beyond.

He was speaking just hours after Russia sent drones into Polish territory that were shot down by Nato jets, the first defensive action of its kind since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

On Wednesday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Germany played a role in the overnight response, with Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under Nato providing support to the Polish air force.

The alliance chief said Nato is “vigilant” and will defend “every inch” of its territory, in a message to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Mr Doughty underlined the strategic importance of the UK’s military base in Gibraltar.

“The fact is that Europe faces a number of very significant threats,” he said.

“We've got to come together for our defence, for our mutual security.”

“And that means the United Kingdom working alongside not only the European Union but, crucially, as part of NATO, the bedrock of our security, and also in new bilateral partnerships.”

“We are very successfully doing that.”

“We're investing in our defence, and of course, British Forces Gibraltar is a core part of that European defence and will continue to be.”

In this wider context, the Gibraltar treaty carried a significance that transcended Gibraltar’s borders.

“The first thing is, of course, it has to be beneficial for Gibraltar, and it is,” Mr Doughty said.

“First and foremost, that's what it's about.”

“But I think if we can get to a new stable, secure relationship that works, then that also means that we can look at how we're engaging with Spain, one of our closest partners in terms of trade, in terms of people-to-people links, and also, of course, with the EU.”

“I think we've turned the page on that division of the Brexit years and the botched deal that was done - that of course left Gibraltar out - by the previous government.”

“And so I think all of these things are mutually beneficial.”

The Europe Minister said the treaty was part of a “sustained effort” by the UK to reset its relations with European “friends and partners”.

“But at the core of all of it, it's about prosperity, it's about security, it's about secure borders, it's about making sure that people can trade, it's about making sure that we keep people safe,” he said.

“And ultimately, that the people on the street feel the benefits of new relationships and cooperation.”

Repeating a message he delivered in the House of Commons on Monday in evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Doughty stressed that “sovereignty was never on the table” in the negotiation on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the EU.

“This is about trade, it's about prosperity, it's about fluidity across the border, about new opportunities like new flights being able to potentially come into the airport, and I think a new era of cooperation, but one in which Gibraltar's interests are respected, and that self-determination, that sovereignty, is maintained,” he said.

“We said that at the start of this process, we've maintained it and that's what we've delivered.”