MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar/UK constitutional talks are “going well”

Gibraltar and United Kingdom delegations at the constitutional talks in London which began Wednesday agreed that they had made good progress on various issues discussed during the first day's session.

Chief Minister Peter Caruana and Dominick Chilcott director for Mediterranean Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were reluctant to go into any detail on the substance of what had been discussed but they both agreed that the opening session had "gone well". "The discussions have gone very well on all the areas that we have covered today," Mr Caruana told reporters outside the RICS in Westminster.

Without going into detail, he said that the themes discussed had included matters relating to the role of the governor, the legislature, the executive and the public service, including judicial and senior appointments.

The key issue of references to self determination would be the first item on the agenda when the meeting reconvenes, he added.

Mr Caruana would not be drawn on a response to statements in the press by Spanish politicians including MP Rafael Estrella from the ruling coalition, who had voiced Spanish concerns about the talks.

"We're here negotiating a new constitutional settlement for Gibraltar as planned and as has been publicly known for four years (and) for all the purposes that we have previously announced."

He added that officials hoped a final text would be agreed by the end of the week, though he cautioned that there may still be subsequent technical drafting matters to resolve. "We're hoping that this will be the last plenary meeting that will be required" he said.

In Madrid the opposition spokesman Gustavo de Arestegui censured the Spanish Government for its "monumental stupidity" in allowing the Constitutional Reform to take place. He said that there can be no "third way" for Gibraltar or even a suggestion that Gibraltarians enjoy self-determination.

"This is a grave display of a lack of tact, vision and responsibility," he said adding that this third way was the nightmare of successive Spanish governments since the 1969 Constitution. And he warned about this being a route to independence.

So far the PSOE government is insisting that it is the Treaty of Utrecht that must remain unaffected and override all other circumstances.