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Caruana tells Madrid audience “No movement on sovereignty”
Chief Minister Peter Caruana delivered a robust defence of Gibraltar's right to self-determination before a high-powered audience in the heart of Madrid last Friday.
Speaking to a gathering of senior diplomats and business executives, he said any attempt to resolve the political future of the Rock against the wishes of its people would be both "useless" and "sterile".
"The UK has accepted, and Spanish public opinion should also accept, that it is futile, politically inefficient and democratically undesirable to try and negotiate the sovereignty of a territory without the will of the people who live there," Mr Caruana said during a breakfast meeting of Forum Europa, organised by Nueva Economía Fórum.
And he added: "Let us recognise that the sovereignty issue, today, has no solution." "There is no model that is acceptable to the UK, to Gibraltar and to Spain." But he added that an "efficient political process" of dialogue could perhaps change the dynamics of the relationship between Gibraltar and Spain and, in future generations, create "a new perspective" that might facilitate solutions that are not possible at this time.
Friday's meeting was held in a luxurious hall at the Ritz Hotel in central Madrid, just a stone's throw from the Spanish Congress.
Mr Caruana spoke from a podium against the backdrop of three flags: Spain's, the UK's and Gibraltar's.
In the audience ? alongside a healthy media contingent - were senior Spanish officials including José Pons, director general for Europe at the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Rafael Estrella, PSOE MP and spokesman on foreign affairs at the Spanish Congress. Sitting next to them at the same table was Sir Stephen Wright, British Ambassador in Madrid.
And on the eve of the breakfast meeting, the organisers of the event had hosted Mr Caruana to a private dinner at the Ritz in the company of other political heavyweights. Guests included Bernardino León, Spanish secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, and Anthony Smith, who recently took over from Dominick Chilcott as director for Europe at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
During both his speech and the question-and-answer session that followed yesterday morning, Mr Caruana said that that the trilateral forum for dialogue between Gibraltar, the UK and Spain held the key to improved cross-border relations.
He described the creation of the forum as a "courageous and politically intelligent" move that in no way compromised the fundamental position of each party on the issue of sovereignty.
"It respects the position of all parties," he said. "And therefore it offers ? at zero cost to any party - a chance to change the climate between Gibraltar and Spain on many other matters of mutual benefit to communities on either side of the border."
He was short on detail as to progress on any of the key issues such as the joint use of the airport and the Spanish pensions, adding that there were still technical issues to resolve. But he was optimistic and said dialogue was ongoing. The issue of the Spanish pensions ? which he described as "principally" bilateral between Spain and the UK ? was discussed by a technical working group this very week in Madrid.
Mr Caruana acknowledged that there were high expectations that an agreement would be reached within a fairly short timescale. But he said the rate of progress had to be seen within the context of the fact there had been no dialogue between the three sides in two decades. An agreement, the Chief Minister said, was "very close". "I think we are going pretty fast," he told the meeting. "I am hopeful, though I can't guarantee anything, that there should be an agreement by the summer." "But only if that agreement respects the position of all three parties," he added. If that is not possible, "then there will be no agreement and we will have to find another way of moving forward on issues of cooperation that are of mutual benefit to our citizens."
And he cautioned that unless agreement was sought on matters where consensus was possible, all three sides could be "condemned" to another 300 years of dispute. "We can repeat that same thing for as long as we want, that's an option," Mr Caruana said. "And there are those, both in Spain and Gibraltar, who believe this is a valid option, even preferable to the one we are embarked upon." "I don't believe that is the case."
He spoke of modernising "the management" of the sovereignty dispute and dealing with disagreements in a European and democratic manner. "A manner," he concluded, "that might one day signify not that we are enemies with a problem that separates us, but friends with a problem that separates us."
Issues of sovereignty and diplomacy dominated much of yesterday's session, though the speech to Fórum Europa had other aims too.
Mr Caruana looked relaxed and confident as he delivered an upbeat speech intended to address what he described as the "mistaken perception" about Gibraltar often evident in the Spanish media.
He began with an overview of Gibraltar's social and economic make-up, describing Gibraltar as a "mature and prosperous" democracy.
On the finance centre, he said Gibraltar not only complied with EU regulatory requirements ? not just his view, but that of international bodies too - but had the resources in place to ensure that laws were enforced.
"I would urge those who think that we are not worthy of respect because of our financial model to please visit us and find out the reality at first hand," Mr Caruana said. "I want Spanish companies across all sectors to see Gibraltar not as a threat, but as an opportunity, in the same way as so many other financial centres are for their neighbouring countries."
Not everyone was convinced though.
Mr Caruana was asked a number of pointed, though by no means hostile, questions about predictable sources of controversy, including cheap petrol and cigarettes, and visits by nuclear submarines.
On the latter, he repeated the standard line that Gibraltar was not, and would not become, a repair base for nuclear submarines, but that routine visits were welcome.
On the issue of duty-free goods, he acknowledged the price differential but said this was a common feature of all border regions, adding that other products were cheaper in Spain. Even so, he added that where tobacco was concerned, prices in Gibraltar would have to go up in the future. "But for health reasons."
The Spanish pensions issue remains one of the key sticking points in the trilateral talks between Gibraltar, Spain and the UK it emerged.
Peter Caruana, the Chief Minister, would not be drawn on the issue, insisting that it was "principally" a bilateral matter between the UK and Spain.
Jose Pons, director general for Europe at the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, met with his recently-appointed British counterpart Anthony Smith this week to discuss the complex ? and sensitive - topic.
Although it was primarily a meeting between British and Spanish officials, Gibraltar was represented at these technical talks by chief secretary Ernest Montado.
The impasse over pensions largely boils down to an issue of money, and how Spain and the UK will split the cost of meeting the backdated payments.
But officials also suggest that the need to take into account the impact on three separate social insurance frameworks in Gibraltar, Spain and the UK has also added a deep level of complexity to the discussions.
How the outcome of an agreement ? or not - on this issue will impact on other elements of the trilateral talks, including the use of the airport, remains to be seen.
By Brian Reyes in Madrid ? Gibraltar Chronicle
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