MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar/UK agree on text of new Constitution

Following three days of deliberations in London, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom announced Friday they have agreed on the text of a new Constitution for the Overseas Territory.

A joint UK/Gibraltar release states that "we have today (Friday) finished the plenary session of talks on a new Constitution for Gibraltar. The talks have gone very well in relation to the text of the Constitution itself, upon which the stage of negotiations between delegations has concluded. The next stage is for UK Ministers to consider the outcome".

Gibraltar sources revealed the local government anticipates calling a referendum to approve the new constitution this year.

However the Spanish press reports that even when an agreement was reached on the text of the Constitution, "no consensus" was arrived on the inclusion of the right to self determination on the preamble.

The third round of constitutional talks was held in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, close to Westminster with Chief Minister Peter Caruana leading the Gibraltar delegation and the UK delegation under Dominick Chicott Director for Mediterranean Europe at the Foreign Office.

According to the influential El País from Madrid the "self determination" clause could be drafted in a generic manner, not specific to the Gibraltar people, and this interpretation would be supported by a letter from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos. Furthermore a second document with these specifications would be addressed by the Foreign Office to Gibraltar's Governor. El País underlines what it describes as the "good syntony" between London and Madrid during the last weeks.

Earlier in the week, the Spanish government had made clear that it would not accept any references in the new constitutional text that put in question the doctrines of the United Nations and the rights that Spain believes it derives from the "Treaty of Utrecht".

Before leaving for London Chief Minister Peter Caruana had indicated that he believed it was possible to find a solution acceptable to both Gibraltar and Spain.

Spanish government officials cited anonymously in the press this week appeared firm in their position and insisted that Utrecht must override any other principle in discussions over the future of Gibraltar.

According to those same reports, the Spanish government had already rejected a British proposal to provide assurances in respect of Utrecht in a letter subsequent to agreement on the new constitutional text.