Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia used a wide-ranging address at the University of Gibraltar recently to set out his thoughts on the Rock\u2019s future relationship with Europe, arguing that the UK\/EU treaty would replace decades of volatility with legal certainty and deliver practical benefits that eluded Gibraltar even during its years of full EU membership.<\/p>\n
Speaking ahead of the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum in June, Dr Garcia reflected on over half a century of Gibraltar’s European experience, from the border closure under Spain\u2019s General Franco to the years of Spanish obstruction inside the EU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe treaty before us is not perfect and it does not erase the past,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it does learn from it. It removes the weapons used against us. It replaces volatility with law. It brings certainty where there was none.\u201d<\/p>\n
The treaty offered a framework for greater stability after the disruption of Brexit and would provide \u201cthe closest structural relationship\u201d available to Gibraltar outside the EU.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the closest to membership that is on offer,\u201d Dr Garcia said, adding the new arrangement would not depend on goodwill alone, but rather on a binding legal structure that would better safeguard Gibraltar\u2019s interests in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, it will be legally binding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond, the treaty itself will include a dispute resolution mechanism of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stressed that \u201cthe parties to the treaty are the United Kingdom and the European Union\u201d and that \u201cit is not a treaty between the UK and Spain\u201d.<\/p>\n
AIRPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Garcia recalled years of disagreement over the airport while Gibraltar was inside the EU and Spain blocked any attempt to develop the Rock\u2019s air connectivity.<\/p>\n He said this one issue \u201cencapsulates\u201d the \u201ctroubled\u201d relationship between Gibraltar and Spain inside the EU, noting for example how Madrid had vetoed an air liberalisation package because it applied to Gibraltar.<\/p>\n Prior to Brexit, Gibraltar was entitled to EU air connectivity as of right but this was vlocked by Spain. That right was lost after Brexit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was disappointing to say the least that the European Commission, the guardian of the treaties, failed to act and to uphold EU law in this area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe EU institutions chose not to intervene. The United Kingdom could only hold the deadlock. Other Member States offered tea and sympathy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Spain was able to benefit from this all-round lack of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the treaty framework would enable flights between Gibraltar and destinations in the EU, while also protecting British sovereignty.<\/p>\n UK airlines would continue to operate between Gibraltar and the UK, while EU airlines would be able to fly between Gibraltar and the EU.<\/p>\n Dr Garcia also set out how oversight would work and that Gibraltar would apply EU law in four specific airport-related areas through its own constitutional instruments.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the airport will benefit from a new relationship with the European Union which at the same time protects our relationship with the United Kingdom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe foundations have been laid for a new route network to the EU.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that while the success of new routes would depend on airline decisions, the change in outlook was clear.<\/p>\n And he added: \u201cWhile we were in the European Union, the airport was an area of controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow that we are outside the European Union, it is set to become an area of cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n BORDER<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Garcia reflected too on the history of the land border and how it had been \u201cabused\u201d by Spain in the past.<\/p>\n For decades, he said, Spain had weaponised the frontier as a pressure-point against Gibraltar’s economy and people, and the EU institutions had done little to stop it.<\/p>\n As a historian, he said the past had offered a \u201ccrystal clear\u201d lesson to Gibraltar\u2019s treaty negotiators.<\/p>\n \u201cThat coercive lever had to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis context is essential to an understanding of the future of the controls at the land border.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the border is not only a political boundary.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is also the daily crossing point for thousands of people on both sides and the gateway through which the economy of Gibraltar connects with the surrounding region.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the treaty, immigration controls at the land border will be removed and replaced with dual Gibraltar and Schengen controls at the airport. A bespoke customs arrangement will also be created with the EU single market.<\/p>\n Dr Garcia said Brexit had created a paradox in that Gibraltar, through the interaction of Gibraltar and the Schengen area, would enjoy greater border fluidity outside the EU than when it was a member.<\/p>\n \u201cBrexit took Gibraltar out of Europe, yet the solution brings Gibraltar closer to Europe than we were before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Schengen here is a tool, not a flag.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a practical arrangement which means that there is no impact on Gibraltar\u2019s British sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd more than that, Gibraltarians and Gibraltar residents will enjoy the best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAccess for persons into the UK and the EU. Access to the UK market in services. And access to the EU market in goods.\u201d<\/p>\n REJOIN?<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Garcia also addressed the longer-term question of what would happen to Gibraltar if the UK were one day to rejoin the EU.<\/p>\n He noted that since the 2016 referendum, even the strongly pro-European Liberal Democrats had described rejoining as only a \u201clonger term objective\u201d in their 2024 general election manifesto, and that the UK Government’s \u201creset\u201d with the EU had so far amounted to \u201clittle more than an agreement to agree\u201d.<\/p>\n And yet just days before his speech, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves had floated the possibility of closer alignment with EU commercial rules.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is clear that rejoining cannot be ruled out in the future,\u201d Dr Garcia said.<\/p>\n If that were to happen, the UK would be unlikely to return on the same terns it had before Brexit, meaning no budget rebates, no opt-outs, no special treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cWorse still, the EU might welcome the UK back but not Gibraltar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have learnt from experience that decisions taken elsewhere can reshape our destiny overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n That, he argued, was precisely why the new treaty mattered so much, not only for the immediate future but as a safeguard against whatever decisions might eventually be taken in London.<\/p>\n \u201cIt establishes a framework that protects Gibraltar’s interests regardless of what future decisions may be taken in London,\u201d Dr Garcia said.<\/p>\n Closing his address, Dr Garcia reached for Winston Churchill’s famous observation that if Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, it must always choose the open sea.<\/p>\n \u201cGibraltar has never had the luxury of that choice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have always lived between Europe and the open sea. And we have learned, not merely to survive there, but to prosper as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia used a wide-ranging address at the University of Gibraltar recently to set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-845738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116280656364982613","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}