'General political lines' agreed on airport, mobility and goods in high-level Brussels treaty meeting

The UK, Gibraltar, Spain and the European Commission have agreed “general political lines” on the airport, goods and mobility following a high-level meeting to review progress toward a UK/EU treaty for Gibraltar.

The unprecedented meeting in Brussels brought together UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron and his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares, as well as European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

There had been wide anticipation of a breakthrough in the talks and at first blush, Friday’s announcement looked like something of a damp squib amid so much expectation.

But speaking after the meeting, Spain’s Mr Albares made clear that the meeting represented one step closer to concluding the treaty.

"Today is not just another day, not just another day of negotiations,” he told reporters outside the Commission’s Berlaymont building Brussels, where the three-hour meeting took place.

“Today has been a very important day, where significant progress has been made and where we all agree, once again, to continue working in the coming weeks to conclude the agreement.”

To cement that message, the four sides released a joint communique after the meeting, also an unprecedented step.

The statement was accompanied by a photo of the four men walking through the corridors of the Berlaymont building.

“This was the first meeting in this format,” the joint statement said.

“Discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved.”

“General political lines have been agreed, including on airport, goods and mobility.”

“Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the UK-EU Agreement.”

“The participants agreed that this was a productive day.”

“The meeting reaffirmed their shared commitment to concluding an UK-EU Agreement to secure the future prosperity of the whole region.”

“This Agreement will bring confidence, legal certainty and stability to the lives and livelihoods of the people of the whole region, without prejudice to the parties’ legal positions.”

As has been the case until now, there were few details of the negotiation which all sides are seeking to protect as it enters the final phase.

Instead, the focus was on the mood music and the intention to continue working to conclude the agreement in the coming weeks.

“I think that this is a very positive moment,” Mr Picardo told reporters outside the Berlaymont building.

“We're not going to give you any details of what it is that we have agreed because the negotiation is not over.”

“But I'm delighted to tell you that I think this is a very forward looking and positive opportunity for the people that I represent in Gibraltar and for all of the people in the Campo de Gibraltar to create a new dynamic, a new relationship.”

“And a very positive future awaits if we're able, in coming weeks, to finalise this negotiation with the legal text that will reflect the general political lines that we have agreed today.”

There is no deadline as the negotiation continues, but all eyes are firmly on the EU’s June elections and the UK’s general election expected later this year.

There is shared concern that if a final deal is not reached before June, the process could be stalled for many months and could lose momentum.

Friday’s meeting in part aimed to give the process a high-profile push to finally get it over the line.

“There are still some weeks of intense work ahead, but we have all demonstrated our commitment to reach an agreement…” Mr Albares said.