There is a Gibexit deal, pending finalising some detail, between the EU and the UK over Gibraltar, which both Gibraltar and Spain have approved. That is the overall message following a meeting today in Brussels.
“General POLITICAL LINES have been AGREED, including on airport, goods and mobility.” The message cannot be clearer. There was nothing else under discussion.
If there was any doubt those should be set aside by confirmation that “Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks TO CONCLUDE the EU-UK Agreement”.
The word used is “conclude”. The issues engaged must be matters that follow template arrangements in other treaties between other countries and the EU that pre-exist the Gibexit political agreement and simply need tweaking, otherwise today’s message would not be so certain.
Further, “This AGREEMENT WILL BRING CONFIDENCE, LEGAL CERTAINTY AND STABILITY to the lives and livelihoods of the people of the whole region, without prejudice to the parties’ legal positions.” Note the use of a capital ‘A’ in the word “Agreement”.
The Brussels meeting was attended by European Commission Executive Vice-President, Maros Sefcovic, Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, and Gibraltar Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo.