Treaty talks resume this week in Brussels

The next formal round of negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar will take place in Brussels this week, a European Commission official confirmed on Monday.

The talks, which are at officials’ level, are scheduled to run from Tuesday through to Thursday and will be the fifteenth formal round since the negotiation commenced in October 2021.

They come just a month after the last two-day formal round in December in the run-up to Christmas.

The negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar is said to be in its final stages and all sides, to varying degrees, have signalled progress and continued commitment toward a deal that seeks to ensure post-Brexit border fluidity and create new economic opportunities, summed up in the phrase “shared prosperity”.

Negotiators are trying to agree a treaty for the Rock’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc, with border fluidity at the heart of a deal that seeks to protect the interests of communities on either side, opening up new economic opportunities too.

But creating a common travel area with the Schengen zone and allowing a closer relationship between Gibraltar and the EU without overstepping red lines on sovereignty has presented complex challenges.

Spain’s insistence that Gibraltar’s airport be included in any treaty is one area of disagreement that has come to the fore in recent weeks, although none of the parties involved in the negotiation will confirm details of what is under discussion, or where the difficulties lie.

The UK and Gibraltar have ruled out Spain’s call for joint use of the airport but said they are willing to explore “practical and technical options to facilitate flights between Gibraltar and the EU”.

After the formal round last month, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the UK, Gibraltar, the EU and Spain “could not be working harder” to finalise outstanding issues “as soon as possible”.

And in a New Year message a few weeks later, Mr Picardo said the discussions continued but that negotiators were “now really, almost there”.

At around the same time, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia said the coming weeks would be “crunch time” for the negotiation, one way or another.

Last week, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Spain and the UK “both want” to reach agreement on a treaty, adding: “I think we’re close.”

Mr Albares acknowledged that there was some urgency to concluding the negotiation due to European elections in June and the likely prospect of a general election in the UK this year.

“We have to do it soon,” he said.