Gib treaty negotiation ‘is not resolved yet’

by Brian Reyes and Maria Jesus Corrales

Against the backdrop of fevered speculation that a post-Brexit UK/EU on Gibraltar could be announced in days, Gibraltar and Spain both made clear on Monday that the protracted negotiation “is not resolved yet”.

The first statement on those lines came from Jose Manuel Albares, Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, during an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight current affairs programme on Monday night.

A clip of the interview, which comes before the UK and the EU are expected to announce agreement of a new defence and security deal during a summit in London on May 19, was shared by the BBC on the programme’s social media on Monday afternoon.

“The relationship between the UK and the European Union is a comprehensive relation, a global relation, not just a ‘pick and choose’ relation,” Mr Albares said in the clip.

“Because there are many, many things that we have to talk [about], Gibraltar included.”

Newsnight reporter Nicholas Watt asked: “So that means that if there is a much bigger negotiation, Gibraltar would have to be there, because as far as you're concerned, Gibraltar is not resolved?”

“It's not resolved yet,” Mr Albares replied.

“There is no agreement, and it's very clear, it's part of the Withdrawal Agreement.”

“We need to solve the issue of Gibraltar in order to have a full European Union/UK relationship.”

Asked for a reaction to the clip, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo echoed Mr Albares’ words.

“The issue of the detail of Gibraltar's future relationship with the EU is not yet resolved,” Mr Picardo told the Chronicle.

“We are continuing our work, with UK colleagues, to resolve all issues with our EU counterparts as quickly as we can, without compromising on our fundamentals.”

Earlier on Monday, Mr Picardo took to social media to dismiss an anonymous post being widely shared that made claims about the content of a deal that would supposedly be announced on Friday.

“Hmmm…interesting stuff BUT none of it is true,” Mr Picardo posted on his social media.

The Newsnight clip drew immediate reactions from opposition parties in the UK, who appeared to interpret Mr Albares’ comments as relating to the issue of sovereignty rather than the treaty negotiation.

Mr Watt, the BBC journalist, posted on X that it was “time to dust off a copy of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht” after Mr Albares “tells me the centuries-old dispute over Gibraltar is unresolved”.

He later quoted Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel, who told him: “Given that whenever Labour negotiates, Britain loses, it’s no wonder Spain sees this weak government as an opportunity…”

“Gibraltar is British, end of, and we will remind the government exactly where the sovereignty of Gibraltar lies.”

The Chronicle contacted Spain’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs to confirm that Mr Albares was in fact referring to the treaty talks in his response to the BBC journalist.

“Yes, of course, he was saying that we still don’t have a UK/EU treaty in relation to Gibraltar, that we are still negotiating but have advanced a great deal,” a spokesperson for the Spanish ministry in Madrid told the Chronicle.

Spain’s long-standing position in relation to Gibraltar is that it should be decolonised through bilateral talks with the UK, something the UK rejects annually before the United Nations, underlining its modern non-colonial relationship with Gibraltar and its commitment to the self determination of its people.

WIDER CONTEXT

This is not the first time that the Gibraltar treaty has been signalled as an important element of the UK Government’s plan to reset its relations with the EU after Brexit.

Back in July 2024, after his first meeting with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the newly elected UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, expressed hopes that a closer UK/EU relationship would “forge the way” to a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar.

Later that year in October, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the UK Minister for EU Relations, reflected on the post-Brexit reset and told a reception during Gibraltar Day in London that Gibraltar “is at the heart of this”.

Mr Thomas-Symonds said there was “a very clear space” to improve the UK's trade and investment relationship with the EU “by tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade” to help British businesses thrive.

“Gibraltar is at the heart of this, with its historical geographical proximity to Europe,” he said at the time.

The latest developments come at a moment of wide expectation that a deal is imminent, despite negotiators explicitly and repeatedly stating that they are not working to a deadline.

From the outset, and despite repeated calls for an end to Gibraltar’s post-Brexit uncertainty, all sides have kept the detail of the talks and any remaining stumbling blocks closely under wraps to protect the integrity of a difficult and complex negotiation.

All sides have also repeatedly underlined the goodwill in the negotiation and their shared desire to reach agreement, expressing confidence that the talks will be successfully concluded.

The most recent was Maros Sefcovic, Europe’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security who is overseeing the talks for the European Commission.

Last week, addressing the European Parliament, Mr Sefcovic praised the “exemplary cooperation” shown by the UK and Spain in the Gibraltar talks, adding he believed a deal would be agreed.

“I have to underline at this stage that we are progressing in a positive direction and I really would like to thank to both Foreign Minister Albares and [Foreign Secretary] Mr [David] Lammy for exemplary cooperation, for understanding the position of all sides, because this helps us to advance on these very complex and difficult discussions,” he told MEPs at the time.

“And we will be working on this top level. And I believe that we will be successful in that result as well.”

The UK and Gibraltar governments have insisted throughout the talks that they will no agree to any deal that oversteps red lines on sovereignty, jurisdiction and control.

The UK's Labour Government, in line with its Conservative predecessors, has said it will not sign up to anyagreement that the Gibraltar Government is not content with.

On Monday night, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “This Government inherited a situation from the last government which left Gibraltar’s economy and way of life under threat."

“In the negotiations we have continued from the last government to resolve this, we have been clear that we will only agree a deal that maintains British sovereignty over Gibraltar and has the full backing of Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

“Gibraltarian citizens are British citizens and Gibraltar will always remain part of the British family.”