Treaty translated, but question mark hangs over April 10 start date 

The European Union on Monday published translations of the Gibraltar treaty in its 24 official languages, clearing an important procedural hurdle as uncertainty remains over whether the agreement can be signed in time for provisional implementation by April 10. 

With less than a month to go before the EU’s Entry/Exit System is due to come into force, discussions on the text continue inside the European Council and work remains under way on the border infrastructure needed to put the deal into effect. 

Several well-placed sources told the Chronicle that while all sides are still working to the April 10 target, there is now a real possibility the date could slip. 

The timing matters because without the treaty in place, the full application of new automated EU border controls including biometric checks could cause serious disruption at the frontier, affecting residents, workers and businesses on both sides. 

The treaty can be provisionally implemented once it is signed by the UK Government and the European Commission, even before ratification by the UK Parliament and the European Parliament is complete. 

But while the UK Government is understood to be ready to sign, the Commission must first receive clearance from the European Council, the EU’s highest political body comprising the heads of government in the 27 member states. 

The Council’s Working Party on EU-UK Relations has been considering the legal text since late February. Made up of diplomats and officials from the 27 member states, the Commission and the Council secretariat, it has met six times so far, most recently last Friday. 

An EU official told the Chronicle it was “still too early” to say anything about the progress of those discussions or when they might conclude, adding that they had so far proved “very difficult, complicated and highly technical”. 

A key issue is whether the Council will accept the Commission’s recommendation that the treaty be handled as an EU-only agreement, meaning it will require ratification only in the European Parliament and not in the national parliaments of member states. 

Several member states requested an opinion from the Council Legal Service on that point, though there has been no confirmation of its conclusion. 

There are, however, more optimistic views in Brussels. Another European source said Council approval could yet be secured by the end of the month, keeping April 10 within reach. 

For now though, all that can be confirmed is that scrutiny at Council working party-level continues, with Gibraltar back on the agenda for a meeting to take place tomorrow (March 17). 

Once the Working Party on EU-UK Relations reaches agreement on the text, the file will pass to member states’ ambassadors on the Permanent Representatives Committee, known as COREPER. 

Once COREPER has agreed the text, it would move to the Council for formal adoption, clearing the Commission to sign for provisional implementation while the European Parliament considers it. 

While these internal EU processes are under way, work also continues at the air terminal and the adjacent border area on new infrastructure that must be completed before the agreement can be implemented, even on a provisional basis. 

That includes creating temporary facilities to enable Spanish officers to conduct Schengen immigration checks on air arrivals, as well as changes within the air terminal itself to manage the new passenger flows that will be necessary. 

On the Spanish side, Spain will also have to connect data cables to the temporary infrastructure to enable its immigration officers to make checks against the Schengen database. 

It is only once all of those elements are in place that provisional implementation of the treaty will be possible, clearing the way too for the removal of immigration controls at the land border. 

Another factor that could impact the timeline is the crisis in the Middle East, which is dominating the political bandwidth of all European governments, already under strain because of the conflict in Ukraine. 

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, underscored this in clear terms during a recent parliamentary debate on the treaty. 

“We do not live in a bubble or in a vacuum,” he said. 

Another complicating element is the time of the year, with Easter breaks another issue that has to be factored in.

The key question is what will happen at the border if the April 10 deadline is missed for whatever reason. 

In an explanatory memorandum published alongside the treaty text, the Commission said its entry into provisional application was “a matter of special urgency”. 

“If the Agreement in respect of Gibraltar does not apply by 10 April 2026, fully-fledged border control will need to be put in place between the territory of the Union and Gibraltar,” it said.  

“This will significantly disrupt individuals, businesses and other stakeholders operating in the area of Campo del Gibraltar and go against the very purpose of the Agreement, which is to create an area of shared prosperity to the benefit of both the Union and Gibraltar.” 

The warning was stark, but privately there is scepticism that, after five years of talks and with all the negotiating parties finally on the same page, anyone would risk maximum disruption once the political deal is already done in substance. 

Faced with such a scenario, one source said, the hope is that officials on both sides of the border will continue applying a flexible approach to residents and cross-border workers pending the agreement being signed. 

Viewed from the Rock, the focus is on ensuring Gibraltar is ready by April 10, both in terms of legislative processes and infrastructure. 

Mr Picardo told Parliament during the debate on the treaty that Gibraltar must be “ready to go, if we're able, and equally ready to pause, if others are not.” 

The treaty appears closer than ever, but whether it can be ready by April 10 depends on processes and preparations, many of which lie beyond Gibraltar’s control. 

“The [Gibraltar] Government has clearly expressed its commitment to being ready for the deadline of the 10th of April, and is sparing no efforts to do so,” a spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place said last night. 

“If the provisional implementation is pushed back, it will not be for Gibraltar’s lack of readiness.”