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The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, announced on Thursday an agreement in principle with the United Kingdom that would allow the Schengen agreement to be applied to Gibraltar.
“The practical result is that the fence will be torn down, which will facilitate mobility.”said the minister at a press conference at the Moncloa Palace to report on the status of negotiations with the United Kingdom on Gibraltar.
The principle of the agreement reached will allow the application of policies and programs of the European Union to Gibraltar, such as the Schengen agreement or a customs regime for the traffic and transport of goods and fair competition measures in the fiscal, environmental, labor and social fields .
“We are breaking down barriers to build an area of shared prosperity”González Laya said.
With the principle of the agreement, he explained, Schengen will be applied to Gibraltar, Spain being the country responsible for the control, and the borders at the port and at the airport will be changed.
During a transition period of four years, Frontex will contribute to these controls.
After the conclusion of this principle in agreement with the United Kingdom, Spain will have to ask the European Union to consolidate it in a treaty that González Laya hopes to see ready in six months.
While this deal is being drafted, “Schengen provisions will be used to facilitate checks at the fence,” he said.
“We know how much this distressed the citizens of the Campo de Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians”he added.
González Laya defended that this principle of agreement “constitutes a solid base on which to build the future relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom” with those who want to “strengthen” the relationship in this new stage after Brexit.
The minister, who announced that she will appear in the Congress of Deputies to give an account of this agreement, has already informed the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, of the terms of the agreement and will do the same with the spokespersons of all groups politicians.
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