Preparatory work for treaty implementation gears up 

By Brian Reyes and Maria Jesus Corrales 

Preparatory work is starting to allow works on new border infrastructure related to the treaty to commence shortly, amid signs the text of the EU/UK treaty on Gibraltar could be finalised imminently. 

An agreement on the text was reached last December and the document has since been undergoing legal review. 

While there is no confirmation that this process is complete, momentum in preparation of the next phase is picking up. 

Once the “legal scrub” of the text is complete, it will be circulated to the EU’s 27 members ahead of debate and ratification by the EU Parliament. 

A motion in the Gibraltar Parliament will trigger the process for the UK, which will use the procedure set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 to ratify the treaty in the UK Parliament. 

In recent weeks, the Gibraltar Government’s ministerial Cabinet carefully reviewed an “un-scrubbed” version of the text and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo indicated he did not expect any significant changes as result of the legal review. 

In any event, any changes would be carefully considered once the process was complete, something he said on January 15 would take “weeks, not months”. 

Earlier this month, a team of officials and technical experts from Gibraltar and Spain met in Gibraltar Airport to discuss practical arrangements for the implementation of the UK/EU treaty once it is ratified. 

A key element of that will be a joint shared facility spanning both sides of the border within which Gibraltar and Spanish immigration officials will handle any issues relating to people arriving in Gibraltar. 

The Cabinet met again this week to consider practical matters arising from the implementation of the treaty. 

In another development, the Business Transition Advisory Group, which was set up as a contact point between business and Government on treaty implementation, met on Thursday, its first meeting after the December agreement on the text was reached. 

The meeting “…was about ensuring that businesses are kept informed of what comes next,” said Gemma Arias Vasquez, the Minister for Business. 

And while all sides in the negotiation have avoided firm deadlines, one key date on everyone’s mind is April 10, when the EU’s new automated border control system, the Entry/Exit System [EES], is set to become fully operational following its progressive rollout across all EU borders over the past six months. 

Spain, in common with other EU countries, is introducing the EES in stages at all its border points, starting with airports followed by land borders and finally ports. 

The system requires non-EU nationals to register their biometric data, which will be checked when crossing into the Schengen area. 

Prior to the June 11, 2025, political agreement on the treaty, the start of the EES rollout was seen as a cliff-edge that would potentially have led to the hard post-Brexit border all sides had been at pains to avoid. 

This week the Gibraltar Government said that ahead of April 10, some of the existing technical infrastructure at the border will be removed and temporary infrastructure put in place instead. 

“The reason for the temporary arrangements is to meet the treaty objective of fluid movement of persons while the permanent infrastructure is under construction,” No.6 Convent Place said at the time. 

“The alternative would be the full application of the EES at the border, including the taking of biometrics like facial scans and fingerprints.” 

As from April 10, all non-EU nationals entering the EU will need to undergo those checks, but the treaty will exempt residents of Gibraltar from the EES.  

The Spanish side of the border is already adapted to the requirements of the EES and has been for months. 

But a spokesperson for Spain’s Ministry of the Interior said operational details remain to be confirmed pending the signing of the UK/EU treaty.  

The spokesperson did not comment on reports that Spanish immigration officers would start a trial of the EES system at the Gibraltar border as from February. 

The ministry said only that the application of the EES at the border is linked to the signing of the UK/EU treaty, the date of which remains unknown.  

Until then, Spanish authorities will continue to apply the transitional regime, including flexible controls for Gibraltar residents and EU citizens entering the Rock.
The treaty envisages the removal of immigration controls at the border itself, with dual Gibraltar and Schengen immigration controls – the latter carried out by Spain on behalf of its EU partners – to be conducted on entry into Gibraltar at the airport or by sea.