The UK said it continued to work with Gibraltar towards a Brexit deal that “fully recognizes the priorities of the Rock”. The Department for Exiting the European Union made the statement after the seventh meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar Governments, which took place in London at the Cabinet Office on Monday morning.
Gibraltar was discussed in Madrid on Saturday during a wide-ranging meeting on Brexit between the UK’s Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Lidington, and Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Lidington expressed confidence that a constructive agreement would be reached on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with Spain and the wider EU.
A cross-party group of UK parliamentarians is in Gibraltar on a two-day working visit. The visit takes place against the backdrop of the negotiations for the United Kingdom and Gibraltar to leave the European Union, which means that it will centre on Brexit issues.
Brexit must make us think anew and refresh Gibraltar’s relationship with the UK. It is time for the Rock to have a Member of Parliament, writes MP Craig Mackinlay (*) The Overseas Territory that now sits in a unique constitutional position post-Brexit is Gibraltar.
Internal divisions on Gibraltar within Spain’s ruling Partido Popular have been laid bare in two versions of a parliamentary motion to be debated in the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Spanish Senate on Thursday.
Jean Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, has again underlined the EU’s position that the Brexit deal must “fully respect” the terms of the Gibraltar veto granted to Spain in the bloc’s negotiating guidelines.
The controversial ‘Clause 24’ veto granted to Spain by the European Union in its Brexit negotiating guidelines reflects the “unanimous solidarity” of the remaining EU members with the Spanish position on Gibraltar, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said in an interview.
Spain hopes to reach an agreement with the UK over Gibraltar by the summer, its foreign minister has said. Alfonso Dastis said Spain would defend our position but the two sides were working towards an agreement as soon as possible. The UK says informal talks are going on about Gibraltar's post-Brexit future with Spain.
Spain will not use the Brexit negotiations to pursue its sovereignty aspirations, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday during a press conference in which he also appeared to signal his government’s readiness to engage in dialogue with Gibraltar.
The UK and the European Union have agreed the terms of a transition deal that covers Gibraltar but also maintains Spain’s controversial veto, according to a report from the Gibraltar Chronicle. Gibraltar is included within the territorial scope of a draft withdrawal agreement that also sets out arrangements to smooth the UK’s departure from the bloc after March 2019.