MEPs signal broad support for Gibraltar treaty as EU ratification process starts

The two largest political groups in the European Parliament signalled support for the UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar on Tuesday, offering the clearest indication to date that MEPs will consent to its ratification.

The parliament heard positive assessments on the treaty from various MEPs across the political spectrum as it commenced the process of parliamentary debate ahead of a vote on ratification.

During a joint meeting of its committees on foreign affairs and international trade, successive MEPs praised the treaty’s pragmatism and said it showed what cooperation could achieve at a time when the UK and the EU were seeking to strengthen their post-Brexit relations.

The only dissent in the room came from Spanish Partido Popular MEPs.

The meeting on Monday was the start of a process that will likely take some months.

The treaty has been provisionally implemented but cannot be fully applied until it is ratified by both the European Parliament and the UK Parliament.

The treaty is an EU-only agreement, meaning it will be voted on only by MEPs in the European Parliament and not by the national parliaments of the EU’s 27 members.

A date for that vote has yet to be confirmed but is likely to be late this year.

‘RESULT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF’

Thijs Reuten, the Dutch MEP appointed by the Foreign Affairs Committee to lead on the preparation of a report on the treaty ahead of the vote – known in EU parlance as the rapporteur – referred to the celebratory scenes at the border last July 15 and said “the result speaks for itself”.

“It's a fitting close to five years of negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Spain,” he told the parliament.

Mr Reuten said the treaty secured the future prosperity of Gibraltar and the surrounding region, guaranteeing free movement for people while ensuring Schengen rules applied at an EU external border.

The removal of border checks, he added, “makes life easier”.

“And I think that is exactly what the bigger cooperation and relationship between the UK and EU should be about,” Mr Reuten told MEPs.

“So this deal that works for people on both sides shows us what is possible when Brussels and London choose pragmatism and cooperation and a solution-oriented road for this outcome.”

“And beyond the practical benefits for Gibraltar and Spain, this agreement could also therefore be promising hopefully for the future EU-UK relationship in these times where both sides have clearly an interest in standing closer together, not further apart.”

“This agreement is a fitting illustration of that cooperation and that rapprochement between EU and UK matter, and it proves that constructive engagement delivers results.”

“For that reason, as rapporteur, I recommend to give consent to this and following this consent agreement, it can be fully adopted and concluded and provisional application can be turned into full application.”

EPP AND S&D

The hour-long meeting also heard from shadow rapporteurs for the two main groups in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party [EPP] – whose membership includes Spain’s Partido Popular – and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, which counts the PSOE in its ranks.

The first views came from Croation MEP Zeljana Zovko, who was not present in the room but whose statement was read by committee chair David Mcallister, a German MEP and senior figure in the EPP.

“On behalf of the EPP group, we support this agreement after several years of complex negotiations,” Ms Zovko said in the statement.

“It provides a comprehensive and pragmatic framework for future relationship concerning Gibraltar and brings greater legal certainty for citizens, businesses and cross-border workers.”

Ms Zovko highlighted key aspects of the agreement including the removal of physical barriers to the movement of people and goods, pointing too to strengthened cooperation across numerous areas.

She said the EPP welcomed too the treaty’s framework for fair and open competition, including commitments on state aid taxation, labour and social standards.

“The agreement is particularly important for cross-border communities and workers whose daily lives and economic opportunities depend on smooth movement between Gibraltar and Spain,” she told Parliament.

“Overall, we see this as an important step towards greater stability, economic integration and practical EU-UK cooperation.”

“Its successful implementation, with full respect for the safeguards protecting the Schengen area and the single market, will be essential.”

There was fulsome support too from the S&D group, whose shadow rapporteur, Italian MEP Brando Benifei, was not present at the meeting but whose position was set out by Andalusian Socialist MEP Lina Galvez Muñoz.

Outlining the agreement’s main aims, Ms Galvez said the treaty “…deserves our support because, above all, it delivers concrete solutions to concrete problems partly inherited from history and partly from Brexit.”

Where cooperation can deliver tangible benefits for citizens, “we should always be pragmatic and ambitious”.

“This is precisely the kind of cooperation we should pursue, practical, mutually beneficial and anchored European standards,” she told Parliament.

And she added: “The framework is now in place. The border is open. Our task is to make sure that the commitments are fully implemented, respected, and the citizens actually benefit from that.”

‘GEOGRAPHY DEFEATS IDEOLOGY’

Barry Cowan, an Irish MEP with Fianna Fail and the shadow rapporteur for the Renew group in the parliament, said the agreement showed that in the context of Brexit,  “geography eventually defeats political ideology”.

“Gibraltar may have left the European Union through Brexit, but it certainly didn't move,” he said.

“The agreement before us, therefore, is a victory for pragmatism.”

While “crucially” the sovereignty question remained untouched and Gibraltar remained British, many of the practical barriers created by Brexit had been removed, he said.

Mr Cowan said the treaty also offered “a wider lesson” for UK-EU relations and that Brexit was a reality that both sides could not “spend forever relitigating”.

“Where cooperation makes both sides more prosperous, secure and competitive, we should obviously pursue it,” he said.

“The agreement shows what patient negotiation can achieve, and I support what I believe is a balanced agreement, as do my colleagues across the Renew group.”

Ville Ninisto, a Finnish MEP and member of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, also welcomed the agreement but expressed concerns that EU environmental standards should be met by Gibraltar.

He referred to complaints made to the European Parliament by NGOs – he did not mention the group but Campo environmentalist group Verdemar has filed numerous complaints over the years – in areas such as sewage treatment, reclamation, bunkering and the Rock’s tuna quota.

DISSENT

The only objections to the treaty came from three Spanish MEPs from the Partido Popular.

Francisco Jose Millan Mon, Borja Gimenez Larraz and Nicolas Pascual de la Parte set out the PP’s well-rehearsed positions on issues ranging sovereignty to taxation and the environment.

Mr Millan said it was “scandalous” that the treaty, as an EU-only agreement, would not be voted in the Spanish Parliament, adding he could not support it.

Mr Gimenez Larraz raised concerns about the impact on port operations in the strait area, while Mr Pascual complained of an opaque negotiating process “as if negotiated by North Korea”, adding Gibraltar was “still a colony” and treaty “a mockery” of Spanish interests.

PSOE MEP Nacho Sanchez Amor intervened and said Spain’s conservative politicians focused only sovereignty and appeared to show “disdain” for the interests of people.

In doing so, he praised the work of civic groups on both sides of the border in supporting the process that resulted in the agreement, singling out in particular the Cross Frontier Group.

COMMISSION

Earlier in the session, the meeting also heard from European Commission senior official Clara Martinez Alberola, who played a key role in the negotiation of the treaty.

Outlining the main elements of the agreement, Ms Martinez noted that Gibraltar was not covered by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement [TCA] reached between the UK and the EU after Brexit.

“So we needed to find a legal solution to the relations between the EU and Gibraltar and this is what this agreement does,” she said.

Addressing some of the issues raised by MEPs, Ms Martinez made clear that the sovereignty question had never been on the table in the negotiation of this treaty.

“The agreement is very clear,” she said.

“It was not the purpose of this agreement.”

“It's not the objective to change anything concerning sovereignty or to deal on any issue concerning sovereignty.”

She said she “respectfully disagreed” with Spanish MEPs who had argued that national parliaments should vote on the treaty, adding the TCA was also an EU-only agreement.

On environmental matters, Ms Martinez said the treaty ensured Gibraltar would comply and respect EU standards and that in the event it did not, “we clearly have a legal tool” to ensure compliance.

“There are adequate commitments in the agreement that will ensure the enforcement of these obligations,” she said.

Ms Martinez also reflected on Spain’s role in the implementation of the treaty, explaining that the EU, in its internal deliberations, had made clear that any decision relating to the application of the treaty “cannot be taken without the agreement of Spain”.

“This was exactly the same position that we had during the negotiations,” she said.

Ms Martinez said the European Council had adopted a similar in respect of termination.

“On the issue of the termination of the agreement, if Spain requests the termination of the agreement, the EU will terminate the agreement,” she said.

“This is again explicitly said in the council decision.”

The meeting did not hear from any MEPs in the Patriots for Europe group, whose members include the Spanish far-right party Vox, which has been very vocal in its opposition of the treaty.