Treaty will require ‘different way of thinking’ about residency permits, CM says

The UK/EU treaty for Gibraltar will make residency on the Rock so attractive that the Gibraltar Government may have to be more discerning as to who is allowed in once the agreement is in place, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo this week.

Whereas in the past Gibraltar had to work hard to attract high net worth individuals, provisions in the treaty including access for residents to the Schengen zone could create a different type of challenge.

“We've got to get this balance right,” Mr Picardo said.

“But start thinking that the time may come when we need to be very careful about who we allow into Gibraltar.”

“In other words, our product may be so good that we may not want everybody who wants to come to Gibraltar to come to Gibraltar and, you know, raise the price of property as much as it might be, or put as much of a burden on our public services as much as we might find.”

The upshot could be that criteria for CAT2 or HEPPS status may be “much higher than it is now”.

“Because in the past we needed to make ourselves attractive for you to come,” Mr Picardo added.

“Now we're so attractive that we may not want everybody who wants to come.”

“And that's a different way of thinking. But it's an important different way of thinking.”

Going forward, Gibraltar will likely “want the best people to be the ones who come”, those who offer “innovation” and “opportunities” in particular.

If and when the treaty is finalised and ratified, the Chief Minister added, Gibraltar will have “probably the best residence product in Europe”.

Mr Picardo was speaking during a question-and-answer session with Jonathan Scott at a dinner on the Sunborn hotel organised by the Chamber of Commerce, during which he answered questions from the business community on different aspects of the treaty.

Among the guests at the packed event were dignitaries including Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition, and Juan Franco, the Mayor of La Linea.

Switching to Spanish, Mr Picardo praised Mr Franco and his team for recently producing an “important and serious” report exploring the implications of the treaty arrangements for La Linea, covering everything from demand on transport infrastructure to the prospect of higher property prices.

“We also have to very conscious of that too… and be very careful about how we look after that product for the future,” he said.

While Spain will not have a veto on residency permits, the new arrangements will mean that Gibraltar will consult with Schengen members to check any new applications against the Schengen Information System to assess any risk to public health or public security.

Repeating earlier statements, Mr Picardo said any risks flagged by the Schengen system would likely mean Gibraltar would not want such persons here anyway, although the treaty will envisage a dispute resolution mechanism should there be disagreement.

“That's a real hypothesis [and] I don't think that would ever really happen,” he said.

“But in the context of that hypothesis, you have to have the rules that enable you to make the proper determinations.”

Addressing the dinner, Chamber president John Isola spoke of a “palpable” sense of relief following the announcement on June 11 that a political agreement for a treaty had been reached.

While he acknowledged that some sectors – retail and wholesale in particular - remained concerned, the Chamber’s general view was that the deal was “a good one” for Gibraltar, “especially in the context of the alternative”.

“Throughout this process, I have reminded our board that the Chamber has members in all sectors of the economy and that if the deal was good for the majority, it needed to be supported,” he said.

Mr Isola welcomed the creation of a Business Transition Advisory Group and said the Chamber looked forward to working with Business Minister Gemma Arias-Vasquez to convey business concerns and find solutions.

Mr Isola praised the “the vision, energy, sheer determination and hard work” of Mr Picardo and his team, adding what they had achieved so far “is significant”.