Gibraltar and Post-Brexit

Cloudcity · 13 April 2022 14:16

The silence is deafening just before Easter on whether a Gibexit ‘deal’ is done or not. Easter was the date within which it was expected that a ‘deal’ would be done between the EU and the UK over Gibraltar following Brexit.

It seems that it has been impossible to get there, it is said, due to intervening events between Russia and the Ukraine. Certainly, there has yet been no announcement of a ‘deal’, one way or another.

RUMOURS

Increasingly, however, there are rumours that a ‘deal’ is done, but that an opportune moment for an announcement needs to be found.

The reality is likely that if a ‘deal’ had been reached, both at a technical and political level, there would be no need to delay any announcement, especially when just prior to the Easter break would be an opportune moment to make an announcement.

It is propitious, because any announcement of any ‘deal’ engaging Spain will likely have its detractors amongst the hardcore “British we are, British we stay” supporters, irrespective that a ‘deal’ will not include sovereignty concessions undermining that core principle held by all.

An announcement just before Easter would have the advantage of avoiding a kneejerk reaction, and would favour a more considered and calmer response. It seems that will not be possible.

Additionally, a delayed announcement impacts on the possibility of a general election before a budget, which will likely need to include unpopular measures.

BUDGET

The 2022 Budget will have to make huge efforts to reverse the deficit that is currently being experienced in recurring public finances.

The deficits have been largely covered by borrowings so far. Those latest borrowings are guaranteed by the UK. The last round of borrowings expires at the beginning of December 2023. The impossibility of repayment in that period is obvious to any observer.

The reality must be that those borrowings will be rolled over, with the UK guarantee also being extended. Roll overs will likely be available for some time to allow for an orderly payment down.

However, any guarantor, in this case the UK, will want to be reassured that those necessary fiscal measures will be taken to put right the deficit, and to allow for some repayment over time. A guarantor will want to see some finality to its guarantee.

The policies to reassure any guarantor will need to be announced in this year’s budget. They will likely need to be quite stringent, so much so that they will affect the pocket of each voter.

ELECTORAL UNPOPULARITY

If there is no election before the budget, which is now looking to be the likely position, due to the lack of any announcement about the Gibexit ‘deal’, then the GSLP-Liberal Alliance Government will have no alternative but to debate and pass this year’s budget in Parliament.

It is a budget that of necessity must include unpopular measures, both to cut expenditure and to raise revenue. Cuts in expenditure are already in process in most departments and publicly financed entities. Just today, the GHA has announced that huge savings will be made by not prescribing over the counter medicines.

Undoubtedly revenue raising measures will include increases in direct and indirect taxes. One would hope that before those who are already paying taxes are hit with higher taxes, those who are paying none will be brought into the tax net and asked to pay something which equates with that paid by taxpayers. Only time and the budget will reveal things.

Whatever may happen at the budget, the enormous likelihood is that revenue raising measures will not prove popular at the polls for the GSLP-Liberal alliance Government.

A REALITY

Whatever the reasons for the deficit in the government’s annual accounts, the reality is that it exists, and despite the past excesses, which have made matters worse, Brexit and the pandemic have had their impact.

The reality is that the deficit impacts on all parties standing at the next general election. The days of making wild promises about giving and spending more are well behind us for many an election.

Those opposing the GSLP-Liberal Alliance will be constrained in making promises. They will be limited to criticising the GSLP-Liberal mismanagement of public finances over the last 11 years, but so what? We will be where we are.

The issue of mismanagement only becomes relevant if any team being presented against the GSLP-Liberal Alliance is seen to be a ‘safer’ pair of hands by the electorate. That will need to be seen by the calibre of candidates presented. The view may well be taken by the electorate that, let those who have made the mess, the GSLP-Liberals get us out of it.

The other reality is that any government formed by anyone other than the GSLP-Liberals will need themselves to take the necessary unpopular financial measures. Doing that will not be liked by voters. Accordingly, its stay in government may well be short lived.

Gibraltar needs to understand, get to grips with and live with the new reality that has been caused by the populist financial decisions taken by our governments since 1998. It is a sad situation brought upon us by financial mismanagement by successive governments, and not just Brexit and Covid-19, which is what the attempted spin and distraction will be.

Cloudcity · 20 April 2022 15:18

19th April 2022

• Govt raises border checks with Spain and UK, but warns of ‘legal reality’ for British citizens post-Brexit

By Brian Reyes and Maria Jesus Corrales

Negotiations for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc will continue in the coming weeks, the European Commission confirmed on Tuesday.

Negotiators had hoped to seal an agreement by Easter but against the backdrop of Covid disruption and the Europe-wide focus on the response to the Ukraine crisis, that target has slipped.

“Talks will continue but I cannot confirm exact dates or locations just yet,” a Commission official told the Chronicle.

It is likely however that the negotiating schedule will slip into next month, the Chronicle understands.

Negotiators from the UK – including Gibraltar – and the Commission have so far held seven rounds of talks in a bid to hammer out a complex treaty to guarantee frontier fluidity for people and goods by establishing a common travel area between Gibraltar and the Schengen area.

They are seeking to find a formula that protects the interests of communities on either side of the frontier while respecting long established red lines on sovereignty, jurisdiction and control.

The negotiations are being conducted with absolute discretion and few details of the content of the talks or any areas of disagreement have been confirmed to date.

However, all sides have repeatedly stated that they remain positive a deal is possible and that the common goal is to create what has been described as an “area of shared prosperity”.

At the end of March, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said he remained “strongly optimistic” that a deal was possible by Easter “or shortly thereafter”.

And the Spanish Government recently said in response to a question in the Spanish Parliament that the talks had entered “the decisive phase” and were being conducted “in a constructive spirit”.

Earlier this month, Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas expressed a similar sentiment and acknowledged the impact issues such as Ukraine had had on the negotiating timetable, adding deadlines “are not useful” and that negotiators would “continue working toward an agreement”.

So far, pending the outcome of the talks, Spain has maintained interim measures at the border for Gibraltar residents with British passports and red ID cards, who are able to cross into Spain much as they did prior to the UK and Gibraltar’s departure from the EU on January 31, 2020.

Other non-EU nationals – including Gibraltar residents with blue ID cards – have been subject to stricter controls including wet stamping of passports, in line with the requirements of the Schengen border code at the EU’s external borders.

But there were signs this week that Spain may be applying a more robust interpretation of those rules for non-EU nationals who do not hold a red ID card.

There were reports at the weekend that some non-EU nationals hoping to cross into Spain for a day trip - including British residents of Gibraltar with blue ID cards - had been turned back.

Schengen rules require “third country nationals” – meaning anyone with a non-EU passport, including those from countries like the UK which do not require a visa for entry – to justify their reason for travel and provide documentary proof of where they will stay, proof of their date of return and evidence that they can fund their time in the Schengen area.

The change at the border on Monday appeared to reflect a stricter interpretation of the rules than has previously been the case, with many people crossing being asked to provide proof in support of their trip in line with the Schengen requirements, and some day trippers being turned back.

Despite the evidence on the ground, a spokesman for Spain’s Ministry of the Interior played down the reports.

“There has been absolutely no change to the criteria for document controls to access Spain,” he told the Chronicle.

“The same documents are required as has been the case since the UK’s exit from the EU.”

He insisted too that holders of Gibraltar red ID cards could continue to cross as normal and, in sharp contrast to the experience of some people at the border, that holders of blue ID cards with non-EU passports could also cross even for short visits.

Against the backdrop of conflicting reports and confusion as to whether there had indeed been a change at the border, the Gibraltar Government said earlier this week that it had taken the issue up with both Spain and the UK.

On Tuesday, however, a spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place said too that the controls arose from Spain’s obligations under Schengen rules, warning that in the absence of an agreement on a UK/EU treaty, the same requirements would apply to all Gibraltar residents with non-EU passports, irrespective of the colour of their ID card.

“The fluid movement of persons across the border between Gibraltar and Spain remains a key part of the envisaged agreement for the future relationship of Gibraltar with the European Union,” the spokesperson told the Chronicle.

“Until that agreement has been concluded, Spain is bound to apply the EU Schengen Border Code.”

“This provides for a greater intensity of controls at the border on what the EU terms third country nationals.”

“The code obliges border guards to check and stamp passports and also to question border crossers on matters like the purpose of their visit to the Schengen area and to request proof of their means of subsistence.”

“Gibraltarian residents of Gibraltar who hold red identity cards have been temporarily exempted by Spain from this requirement pending the negotiation of a new treaty.”

“However, in the event of no treaty the full application of the Schengen Border Code would be the default position for everyone who is not an EU national including Gibraltarians.”

“The Government has already raised the issues which arose in some instances this weekend, but sadly this must be seen against the wider context of the legal reality which exists for British citizens as a result of Brexit.”

Cloudcity · 15 May 2022 19:25

Jose Manuel Albares, Foreign Minister of Spain, is as positive as Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, on the probability of a successful end to UK-EU negotiations on Gibexit, despite any Northern Irish disagreements; whilst San Roque Mayor, Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix, gives ‘shared prosperity’ a new twist by seeking that Gibraltar be generous and positively contributes to Campo de Gibraltar public infrastructure costs, and does not just use it.

It seems that Spain and Gibraltar are, for once, fighting in the same corner. Yet will the suggestion of the San Roque Mayor be taken up, or has it formed part of the negotiation?

We may find out, on both fronts, from the Chief Minister’s statement to Parliament, due to be given tomorrow, 16th May 2022, in the afternoon.

NORTHERN IRELAND AND GIBRALTAR: SEPARATE NEGOTIATIONS

Mr Albares’ statements contrast sharply with reports, in Bloomberg, that disagreements over the Northern Ireland Protocol to the UK Brexit Agreement, may impact on the EU’s wish to continue negotiating a treaty with the UK over Gibraltar.

He said those were “two separate negotiations”, having “nothing in common”, except that the same parties were negotiating.

The separate nature of the two negotiations, and the need to keep them like that, was emphasised, also, by the Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, who accompanied Mr. Albares at the press conference in Madrid.

SPAIN’S CERTAINTY OVER GIBEXIT TREATY

Mr. Albares is reported as continuing to be optimistic on the prospects of the EU reaching a Gibexit Treaty with the UK over Gibraltar. His comments made to reporters come just before Mr Picardo’s promised statement, on the subject, due in tomorrow’s meeting of Gibraltar’s Parliament.

A report in the Gibraltar Chronicle of the 14th May 2022, informs us that Mr. Albares has said that the Gibexit treaty negotiations “are moving at good pace”. He went so far as to say that negotiators were about to start writing the terms of the proposed treaty.

He is quoted in the Gibraltar Chronicle as saying that there were “concrete proposals on the table in order to draft the agreement … with specific legal solutions on the different important points.” He went so far as to admit that drafting of the intended treaty “will move forward as quickly as possible.”

CHIEF MINISTER AND UK MINISTER ONSIDE WITH SPAIN

Those statements reflect Mr. Picardo’s own announcement that, he “can see the contours of a deal which is safe and secure for Gibraltar and within what we would all consider to be acceptable.”

Separately, the UK Minister for Europe, James Cleverly, has said that both the UK and Spain were “determined” to proceed with a Gibexit ‘deal’.

SAN ROQUE MAYOR’S SUPPORT FOR HIS VISION OF ‘SHARING’

In a wide-ranging interview reported in Europa Sur on the 15th May 2022, Mr. Ruiz Boix, San Roque’s Mayor delves into the issue of Gibraltar. He seems to give the term “shared prosperity” a meaning that has not been discussed in Gibraltar to date, suggesting that Gibraltar should positively contribute towards Spanish public infrastructure.

He stated his wish that the border should disappear and sought that all negotiators on all sides should work to achieve that, based on the innovation of resorting to Frontex officers at the border.

That issue, he suggested should not impede the creation of a zone of ‘shared prosperity’, which was the “sweet in one’s mouth”, but he gave that term a new twist.

GIBRALTAR SHOULD CONTRIBUTE

He then sought that Gibraltarians should share more, and that they should be generous on the question of frontier fluidity. He asked for, “generosity from a Gibraltar Government to allow sharing public investment, and not just that we benefit from all public infrastructure acts [costs] in Spain.” He put forward the proposition that Gibraltar “should contribute to their maintenance”.

He went further seeking that the huge difference in personal earnings between those in Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar was illogical, saying that as a good socialist Mr Picardo’s government should help and cooperate in redistributing income. He suggested that Gibraltar had to ‘grow’ its outlook in the economic and social spheres.

The San Roque Mayor’s suggestion has not been voiced before. What remains unknown is how, to whom, and how much that contribution might be?

Cloudcity · 17 May 2022 15:37

Other than the headings all that follows are quotes taken directly from the statement made to Parliament by the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, on 16th May 2022.

The selective extracts are intended to give a picture of the substance of what the Chief Minister said, without comment.

Each reader can come to their own conclusions on careful and studied consideration, referring and comparing to the actual text, which is online, should they so wish to do.

Two questions are do we become de facto part of the Schengen space, as the Chief Minister himself says, and if so what are the consequences that flow from that?

COMPLEXITY

“The complexity of this negotiation is, frankly, unimaginable. The EU treaties … are all very detailed and complex.

We are, in effect, touching every single aspect of the basic building blocks of the European Union, and considering whether, and if so, how each of those should apply to Gibraltar going forward.”

PROGRESS

“In terms of progress of the talks, I am able to advise … that considerable positive engagement in the past four weeks has led us to be very pleased with where we are today.

We are not able to say we have agreed any text.

We are simply refining principles in great detail.

The progress we have made last week … has been satisfactory to all of us at this stage.

On many areas, there has been agreement around basic principles for full agreement to follow.”

MOBILITY

“The areas that remained most open in principle relate to aspects of mobility of persons and aspects of mobility of goods. The main issue has centred around mobility of persons. The key has been resolving how would be able to give effect to the practical arrangements necessary that will arise from the delicate balance reached in the New Year’s Eve Agreement.

By seeking mobility of goods and persons we are seeking, in effect, to carve a niche for ourselves in the infrastructure of the EU which cannot in any way threaten the integrity of the single market or the security of the Schengen area.”

CHECKS ON PERSONS

“Spain is the neighbouring member state and is today responsible for the Schengen checks as individuals seek to enter Schengen via Gibraltar-Spain frontier at La Linea.

We, therefore agreed in the New Year’s Eve Agreement, which we debated in this House, that Spain will have the responsibility for the Schengen checks as people enter Schengen via the entry points in Gibraltar.

At least for the first four years, she will carry out those checks with the assistance of Frontex.

The question, however, is how to do that in a way that is safe, secure, and agreeable to Gibraltar and the UK and Spain and the EU from day one.

The location and manner of the carrying out of the Schengen checks has been a key issue throughout the negotiation.

That means working to agree in detail where relevant people will be, what they will do and who they will do it to.

As such, we have also had to determine what each relevant agency will do in carrying put such checks.

The key, however, is that there will be no such checks at the frontier between us and Spain.

We also want those issues not to create unnecessary additional burdens for passengers arriving at Gibraltar Airport and Port.”

SECRECY

“Nothing will be finally and irrevocably agreed in secret.

But what we cannot do is negotiate in public.

So, I am sorry to say that we cannot say more.

We cannot go into more details because we want to give the opportunity to finalise this deal the best chance possible.

This is not because our instinct is not to be transparent, but because our obligation is to a higher purpose than ourselves and even our own political reputations and fortunes.

We have to do the right things for the Gibraltarians and all residents of Gibraltar.

In our view, a lack of transparency arises when a government can say something without a negative repercussion to the nation, but chooses not to do so, even if that is as a result of seeking to avoid embarrassment for itself.

We are not in the realms of such transparency.

We are walking a tissue of diplomacy that still remains untorn.

If we get to the end without tearing it, it will allow us the twin objectives of making a success of our future relationship with the EU whilst not turning one atom away from the steadfast reality of that we are and want to remain exclusively British in every regard.”

TREATY IMMINENT

“We are within touching distance of a historic treaty … between the UK and the EU.

A treaty that, if we can get there, will create renewed optimism in the European idea itself.

It will create opportunity for our economic development and the further economic development of the region around us, and perhaps even beyond, reaching across the strait.”

BUSINESS SND POLITICAL INTERESTS, NOT INFRASTRUCTURE

“Because I want to be clear, that the shared prosperity we talk about is about business development, not about Gibraltar paying for the creation or maintenance of Spanish infrastructure.

It will protect our post ’86 way of life, while at the same time safeguarding ALL of our fundamental political interests and not asking any other party to compromise theirs, as already provided in the New Year’s Agreement.”

PROGRESS

“We can see the contours of the final agreement between the UK and the EU that will be turned into a treaty text.

The positions we are landing on are becoming clear and concrete proposals on the table.

That will enable the UK and the EU to consider draft texts for the agreement in those areas.”

RATIFICATION PROCESS

“We are not, for one moment, going to spring an agreement on anyone.

Neither will we pretend to declare an agreement can be ratified by the United Kingdom on behalf of Gibraltar without consultation.

We have al ready said that we will not give Gibraltar’s consent to the United Kingdom’s ratification of the Treaty without the agreement of the Cabinet and the agreement of this House after a debate on a substantive motion.”

BRITISH WITH COMPROMISE

“The future of Gibraltar is exclusively British.
Nothing in the negotiation has called this into question or challenged the tenets of British Sovereignty over Gibraltar.

The EU is built on compromise – and we will need to compromise in some areas, of course.

But for us the compromises on the table cannot concern compromises on British sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control.

But they will include practical measures to secure fluidity that will make us all safer and more secure if we become de facto part of the Schengen space.”

NORTHERN IRELAND

“The most high-profile issue … is how matters relating to Northern Ireland and the disputes over the application of its protocol may affect our negotiation… both our negotiations are different.

The United Kingdom … has consistently made the point that the issues arising in respect of Northern Ireland and those which arise in relation to Gibraltar are entirely different.

It is also the position of the Kingdom of Spain, at whose suit the European Commission has launched this negotiation.

The Foreign Secretary Of the Republic of Ireland … was also forthright and clear in separating the issues of dispute.

The European Commission has previously made similar statements.”

PROSPERITY AND PLANS

“My obligation … has been to steer a course to continued prosperity and to seek a path to future prosperity in an exclusively British Gibraltar.

We have a plan for being outside the EU now and a plan for being outside the EU in four years’ time if needs be.

Our better plan is the plan that sees us enter into arrangements with the EU so long as the circumstances for those arrangements are right and remain right.

We are leaving no stone unturned to negotiate a safe, secure, and positive agreement for Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU.”

Juan Manuel Moreno of the PP says that Gibraltarians are of the same culture, the same geographical space, the same natural space and therefore he has maximum esteem and affection for them.

*Spain’s PSOE Government and the Andalusian PP last week preached ‘shared prosperity’
*Campo de Gibraltar’s interests seem paramount to both, with “balanced growth” being sought
*Both insist on Spain’s sovereignty position being guaranteed
*Vox’s call to close frontier respectfully minimised by PP
*Meanwhile, few of us and our MPs at limited Jubilee Celebrations demonstrating our identity
*For there to be sharing, any Gibexit ‘deal’ must allow for Gibraltar to prosper

SPAIN’S GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION AGREED

The message from Spain last week has shifted to one of achieving ‘shared prosperity’ with the Campo de Gibraltar in a Gibexit ‘deal’ between the EU and the UK over Gibraltar.

Spain’s new message is being put out by senior members of both, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) Spanish Government, and now, Spain’s Partido Popular (PP) Opposition, the latter at a regional Andalusian level.

It seems that they may both be reading from a very similar hymn-sheet, although national Spanish politics, which may engage Vox with the PP in the future, may still spoil the party.

At the same time few of us remained in Gibraltar to emphasise our separate identity, for the limited celebrations that were organised, to commemorate the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, her Platinum Jubilee.

PSOE GOVERNMENT AND PP OPPOSITION IN SAME PLACE?

The Gibexit negotiations are ongoing, with little or no outcome publicly visible, beyond what Spain’s ministers and politicians let out of the bag of secrecy surrounding the talks. In the last few days party spokespersons of both the PSOE and PP have said a little more.

They have both indicated a similar perspective, which they say is being sought in the Gibexit talks. It involves ‘shared prosperity’, and not the rejected ‘joint sovereignty’.

It is a ‘shared prosperity’ born of a treaty with the EU, which necessarily must cede elements of power and control to the EU, which is represented by Spain in this part of the EU. It is a treaty that the EU will not reach without Spain’s full agreement.

PSOE STATEMENTS

The PSOE Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, last week said, about the Gibexit talks, “We are progressing at a good pace. There is sufficient agreement in many areas to allow drafting … to begin.”

He added that, “We’re moving towards a new model, one of shared prosperity for the Campo de Gibraltar.”, whilst expressing hope “that very soon we’ll be able to reach agreement.”, one that achieves “that area of shared prosperity”.

He qualified that by saying, “An agreement that, while guaranteeing Spain’s position on sovereignty, is mutually beneficial for the Campo de Gibraltar.”

He explained that ‘shared prosperity’ meant “balanced growth” in the Campo de Gibraltar, with the negotiations having the interests of the Campo’s 270,000 inhabitants at its heart. He said, “It’s them, their needs, and aspiration that guide me.”

PP PRONOUNCEMENTS

At the same time Juan Manuel Moreno, who is the PP President of the Junta de Andalucía, and the main candidate for the PP in the forthcoming regional elections in Andalucía, was promoting that any Gibexit agreement, which may be reached, should benefit both the Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar.

He said, “I hope that an agreement on Brexit is reached to provide solutions for the workers, goods, and services that we share. We need to provide security and stability both for workers and for the flow of those goods and services.”

He added, in the context of emphasising that “closing the border meant sending 11,000 families to the dole”, “Right now, in the context of the Campo de Gibraltar, it means breaking a negotiation and a dialogue that we currently have, not only with the UK, but with Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians.”

In a tone of appeasement, he pointed out, “I want to say to the Gibraltarians that we are part of the same culture, the same geographical space, the same natural space. And as such, I have maximum esteem and affection for them. We must find a formula that allows us to be efficient in the management of the shared spaces we have …”.

“[Politics] is not about kicking the table, because anger never fed anyone. We need common sense. Politics, especially on national issues, requires a calm and sensible approach with a long-term, not short-term view.”

However, he kept to Spain’s well-known position, “We must find a formula that allows us to be efficient in the management of the shared spaces we have, obviously without abandoning the position, which as a Spaniard I will always maintain …”

At a national level in Spain the PP will have its eyes on forming the next national government. In that quest the PP may need the support of Vox, who propagate the closure of the frontier with Gibraltar. In that context the PP’s Mr. Moreno, whilst respecting Vox’s view, referred to his belief that Vox lacked understanding of Andalusian politics.

Continued at the link.

Cloudcity · 14 June 2022 15:07

CM tells UN Gibraltar will always fight for self-determination, even while seeking ‘mature and pragmatic’ relations with Spain

13th June 2022
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the UN’s decolonisation committee [C24] that Gibraltarians would always “fight our corner and defend our homeland”, even while stressing a desire for pragmatic diplomacy with Spain “despite our differences on key, fundamental issues”.

Addressing the Committee of 24 in New York on Monday, Mr Picardo left no doubt that only the Gibraltarians could decide the future of the Rock, a message that the C24 has been hearing from Gibraltar for nearly six decades.

He urged the committee to engage fully with Gibraltar to better understand the views of its people, reminding diplomats that they had yet to despatch a mission to the Rock to see for themselves the situation on the ground.

But he said too that while Gibraltar would continue to defend “what is exclusively ours”, there was room for optimism “about solutions coming down the track”.

He welcomed Spanish goodwill in the negotiations for the Rock’s post-Brexit relations with the European Union and sketched out the progress so far, including on thorny issues such as tax and tobacco.

“The Gibraltarians will continue to come here, to fight our corner and defend our homeland for as many years as are necessary,” Mr Picardo said, reflecting on the fact that it was 59 years since Sir Joshua Hassan had first addressed the UN on behalf of the people of Gibraltar.

“For whilst there is a claim to our land, and whilst there is an attempt to stifle our voices and deny us our inalienable human right to determine the future of our land for ourselves, we will be here, fighting and stopping any such attempts.”

This was the first time in two years that Mr Picardo and his delegation, which included Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, had been able to address the C24 in person as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the C24 chairwoman, Keisha Aniya McGuire from Grenada, urged delegates to wear masks if they saw fit – some did but not all – the committee heard brief general submissions from various delegations before tackling the Gibraltar issue.

Mr Picardo’s address was measured, perhaps reflecting the delicate stage of negotiations for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar, which are due to resume in the coming days.

But there was no mistaking the core message either.

The Chief Minister said the Gibraltarians were “the most committed, the most indefatigable and the most unbeatable” of the parties in respect of Gibraltar.

He singled out Sir Joe Bossano for praise, describing him as “a remarkable man, leader and Gibraltarian” who at age 83 continued to fight for the Gibraltarians’ right to self-determination.

“There is only one Joe Bossano, but make no mistake about it,” the Chief Minister told the committee.

“There are 32,000 more Gibraltarians with the same grit, the same determination and the same commitment that he has to defend our homeland.”

“So we are not going to go away until you delist us.”

“We are going to keep fighting to ensure that you delist us.”

“We are going to keep showing you why there can be no valid argument in international law not to delist us.”

“But in expressing to you the passion that we feel for the defence of our homeland, and our insistence in asserting our right to self-determination, we are not seeking to exclude cooperation with our neighbours, despite our differences on key, fundamental issues.”

Mr Picardo said Gibraltarians were “a mature people” confident in their own identity and aware of their rights and of “challenges on our horizons”

He said too that Gibraltar understood the need to work with neighbouring governments “in a spirit of maturity and diplomatic and economic cooperation”.

“Going forward, we will work in amity and cooperation with our neighbours, to the north and south,” he told the UN committee.

“We will work to facilitate the lives and trade of those who need or wish to cross our borders as fluidly and securely as possible.”

“But we will do that whilst continuing to defend what is exclusively ours.”

Gibraltar, he said, was committed to always seeking pragmatic solutions to issues that did not compromise its fundamental positions.

That was the driver behind close work between Gibraltar, the UK, Spain and the European Union to agree a treaty for a “safe and secure” framework for the Rock’s future relations with the bloc.

It underpinned too the Memorandums of Understanding that “can exist in parallel” to the treaty to address issues that have “marred the relationship” between Gibraltar and Spain in the past.

He cited by way of example the Tax Treaty, which addressed mechanisms for direct cooperation between tax authorities in Gibraltar and Spain created by the Rock’s “reluctant departure” from the EU.

He referred too to “tobacco matters” and Gibraltar’s unilateral commitment to maintain a fixed differential with Spanish prices, and which he said would be maintained going forward if there was a UK/EU agreement on a treaty for Gibraltar.

Mr Picardo said these developments underscored Gibraltar’s goodwill, adding that Spain had also reciprocated in its approach after Brexit.

“There are reasons to be optimistic about solutions coming down the track,” he told the UN committee.

“What we will never accept, however, is the notion that we, the Gibraltarians, are mere bystanders in the decolonisation of Gibraltar.”

“Or the notion that we are not a genuine ‘people’ in our own right with the inalienable right of self-determination.”

That notion, the Chief Minister said, had been sowed at the UN by “pre-democratic” Spain, which argued that the “real inhabitants” of Gibraltar were expelled from the Rock when it was captured in 1704

He attached to copies of his written speech distributed at the meeting the text of an article by Dr Jamie Trinidad, a Gibraltarian Cambridge University Fellow of International Law, which he said debunked “every aspect of that false notion”.

In the piece in question, Dr Trinidad concluded after forensic analysis that the traditional Spanish argument that the Gibraltarians are an illegitimate population with no roots in the territory was difficult to sustain today.

“Do not allow anyone to build any further castles in the air based on that nonsense,” Mr Picardo said in New York.

“That is why we will never accept that the United Nations should determine, year after year, that the international legal status of our land should be the subject, not of our decision, but of dialogue between the administering power and a third party.”

Mr Picardo recalled Sir Joe’s address to the UN seminar on decolonisation earlier this year in St Lucia, where he underscored that the central issue facing the UN on the future of non-self-governing territories was “people”.

He told the committee it had the power and jurisdiction to do only one thing.

“To protect our rights as a people, and our rights only,” the Chief Minister said.

“That is the binding principle of international law here.”

The right of the people of all non-self-governing territories to self-determination.”

“That is the inalienable human right in play here.”

“You have no power to accept or promote a solution which relates to the transfer of our land above our heads.”

“That would be to breach binding international law.”

Mr Picardo reminded the committee that the UK Government had repeatedly expressed its double-lock commitment to the people of Gibraltar, stating clearly that it would not transfer the sovereignty of Gibraltar to another state, or even discuss such a transfer, against the wishes of the people of Gibraltar.

He reminded the UN that Spain’s former State Secretary for Europe, Luis Marco Aguiriano Nalda, had accepted that by acknowledging that if Spain ever raised the issue of sovereignty, the UK and Gibraltar would “close our files and leave”.

For the UN to push that agenda yearly by insisting on bilateral dialogue between London and Madrid was “unhelpful and counterproductive”.

“Those wise words by Sr Aguiriano show that Spain knows that there is no question of a dialogue over our heads ever starting, let alone succeeding,” he told the C24.

“In fact, your only mandate…is the very opposite of that.”

“It is to work every day to defend the freedom of choice of the people of the non-self-governing territories.”

“To work every day to defend the freedom of the Gibraltarians to choose our political future for ourselves.”

And he added: “Your committee needs to engage with Gibraltar.”

“You need to do more to delist us, and soon.”

“Because Gibraltar is our land, it is our home.”

“And only our choices will determine its future.”

Determination · 25 June 2022 23:13

We do not need Picardo, we need God and to reinstate God's Laws.

Petition to the Gibraltar Parliament Demanding the Return to God’s Law

IF YOU CARE ABOUT GIBRALTAR AND THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, please turn up and support the DEMONSTRATION at 8pm at Casemates Square on Monday 4th July to VOICE YOUR DEEP CONCERNS

The POWER OF THE PEOPLE is far GREATER than those in POWER

Cloudcity · 3 July 2022 18:09

*Ruin is faced, without direction to avoid the crash by any political force
*Deficits continue as do increased debts
*Recurrent expenditure is not reigned in by the GSLP-Liberal budget *Who benefits from rents paid to private landlords
*Borrowing for capital projects still incur increased recurring cost
*Pensions likely to be a huge hole
*’No deal’ scenario makes matters worse
*Difficulty of gaining economic independence from Spain,
*Economic dependence on others is inevitable

AGREEMENT THAT RUIN BECKONS

Sir Joe Bossano and Roy Clinton agree that ruin beckons for Gibraltar, although each argues the end destination across a different journey.

Sir Joe centres his concerns on the inability of our social security system to sustain pension payment liabilities in future. Roy Clinton centres his arguments on increasing recurring expenses, annual deficits, and unaffordable public borrowing.

Neither of them provides a clear way forward.

CONTINUING DEFICITS AND HUGE DEBT

The current budget deficit is £55.3 million, and current public debt with “hidden, indirect debt”, brought into account, stands at an estimate of £1.79 billion. £350 million of that was due to the response to the Covid pandemic.

The result is that, according to those figures provided by Mr. Clinton, before the pandemic the public debt, largely incurred by GSLP-Liberal Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, already stood at an unaffordable £1.44 billion.

Mr. Clinton says of this, “This Government has truly buried Gibraltar in a mountain of debt, and it should be ashamed of itself.”

RENTS PAID TO PRIVATE LANDLORDS

On recurrent expenditure Mr. Clinton highlights the example of the huge hike in rentals payable by the government to private landlords.

Mr Clinton neatly summarises the position, “The cost of rental of office space by the Treasury department has rocketed from £2 million in 2011/12 to £10.5 million in 2021/22”. It is an increase of £8.5 million pounds.

It would be interesting to analyse which individuals are behind the various landlord companies benefiting from those rentals, and to boot not paying income tax due to benefitting from Development Aid licences issued to the relevant developers.

SIR JOE’S JUSTIFICATION FOR BORROWINGS

Sir Joe continually emphasises the difference between recurrent expenditure and capital investment. He admits that the GSLP’s had breached its ‘golden rule’ by borrowing to fund recurring expenditure during the pandemic.

He says that the aim is to reverse that as soon as possible, which may be so, but he sets no limit dates for that to happen. Instead, we know that deficits are projected for a few more years. Those will have to be met from public borrowings.

What he does not say is that even if public borrowings are, overall, for capital investment, the interest payments on them must be funded, as do any capital payments, especially if fresh borrowings are not available.

At least interest payments make a significant dent into recurring expenditure. It is a dent that will increase sharply over the next years due to interest rates going up.

What is most frightening about Sir Joe’s budget contribution is what he has to say about the social security fund.

SIR JOE’S SOCIAL SECURITY FUND FEAR

Sir Joe says it in straightforward terms, “It is a matter of simple arithmetic, that if currently we have 30,000 insured workers, and their payments barely cover 6,000 pensioner payments, and the ratios of contributions to benefits are not dramatically altered, then with the passage of time every additional pensioner added to the 6,000 requires five additional workers added to the contributors.

He adds, So, when the 30,000 become pensioners, the work force would have to be 150,000, which is not going to happen.” In short, we will not be able to pay the pensions of those entitled by having contributed.

Sir Joe goes on to disclose that he will be working on a plan to reform the system, but that the Gibexit ‘deal’ rules that may come into play if a ‘deal’ is reached. Those, he says, are made to encourage cross-border worker mobility.

The implication is that absent a ‘deal’ the solution may be to disentitle non-Gibraltarian workers from a pension, although over time he speaks of altering the economy to one that is not so reliant on a cross-border workforce, by attracting inward investment and companies that will be here to invest elsewhere.

He highlights, “The problem we have and no one else has is in relation to our size and … that the Gibraltarian work force is outnumbered by workers from other countries … and this is exceptional.”

‘NO DEAL’ SCENARIO

Sir Joe goes on to make clear that Gibraltar must prepare for the possibility (looking more and more like a probability) of no Gibexit ‘deal’ being reached. He describes this as, “this is just one more negative element in the background to the most uncertain and volatile global situation in economic terms since the end of WWII.”

The scenario he paints is one in which Gibraltar “should increase … self-sufficiency and the ability in a hard Brexit non-treaty situation to continue to maintain and deliver the benefits of a sound economy …”.

That irrespective of whether there is a Gibexit ‘deal’, because even if there is one, it will disappear in or before four years as “Gibraltar’s vital interests … is its economic independence from Spain, so that our economic relationship with our neighbour remains because it is mutually beneficial and not because we are dependent on them.”

ACHIEVEMENT REMAINS UNCLEAR

How economic independence from Spain will be achieved remains unclear and is unsaid by Sir Joe, beyond the vague concept of attracting inward investment and companies that will be here to invest elsewhere.

Will that not make us dependent on those, which creates a similar volatile environment, as they can leave just as easily as they came were circumstances to change?

The only certainties are the economic issues and the uncertainty that Brexit has brought to Gibraltar. Solutions are not obvious, and none are being preferred by either the GSLP-Liberal Government or the GSD opposition.

Indeed, none is offered by anyone else, be it the Chamber of Commerce, the GFSB, the Trade Unions or any new political party. Could it be that we are where we are because there is an element of inevitability, fuelled by the greed that we have been allowed to enjoy by successive governments for decades?

DG-Truther-Videos · 20 July 2022 07:23

Video in link:

Gibraltars Cheif Minister says country will be more British

Cloudcity · 3 August 2022 16:05

Gibraltar could become part of the European Union’s borderless area of Schengen by the end of this year, according to Gibraltar’s Minister of Tourism and Business, Vijay Daryanyani.

Minister Daryanyani raised Gibraltar citizens’ hopes that a new historic treaty permitting freedom of movement between the territory as well as the EU would be signed within the coming months, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

In this regard, he stressed that such an agreement could bring major economic benefits to Gibraltar as well as Spain facilitating the travel process for Spanish workers who enter the territory as well as residents from the Rock shopping across the border and tourists from EU countries.

However, the Minister emphasised that in order for such an agreement to be finalised, there would be no need for the sacrifice of sovereignty.

“There’ll be no concessions whatsoever on sovereignty, jurisdiction or control. That is one of the things that Gibraltarians as well as the Government are 100 per cent sure of,” he pointed out regarding the issue.

There have been continuous negotiations in order to reach a common agreement since the temporary agreement permitting freedom of movement for a period of over four years was finalised in December 2020, before the United Kingdom officially left the European Union.

The Minister considered that Gibraltar was in a good place, expressing hope that the territory could reach an agreement within the coming months. However, he emphasised that the territory’s authorities would like to think that a treaty could be finalised by the end of this year.

“It would mean 16,000 citizens of Spain who daily cross the border to work in Gibraltar’s hospitals, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses would be able to travel into the territory without passport checks. We have more jobs than people; we need them to come and work in Gibraltar,” he stressed, as reported by MSN.

Gibraltar has often sparked controversies between authorities in Spain as well as those in the United Kingdom.

Previously, the Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, Arancha González Laya, said that only Spain has the right to decide when it comes to persons who are eligible to travel to Gibraltar following the terms of the preliminary post-Brexit deal that was reached back then.

The polemics rose after Gibraltar’s authorities announced that the territory plans to join the Schengen Zone as part of the agreement reached hours before the UK left the EU on January 1.

“Schengen is a set of rules, procedures and tools, including its database, to which only Spain has access. Gibraltar and the UK do not. That is why the final decision on who enters the Schengen area belongs to Spain,” the former Foreign Minister pointed out.

According to her, the responsibility for border checks is in the Spanish authorities’ hands.

Cloudcity · 28 August 2022 15:48

Govt confirms treaty meeting after Spanish website publishes image of delegation returning to Rock

The Gibraltar Government said on Saturday that its Brexit negotiating team had attended meetings in Cordoba on Friday.

Confirmation of the meeting came after a Spanish website published photo of the Gibraltar delegation on a train returning from the meeting.

The website, Noticias Gibraltar, said the meeting was “unknown”.

The photo showed Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, Attorney General Michael Llamas and Peter Canessa, Mr Picardo’s private secretary, wearing masks on a train from Madrid to Malaga.

It was taken by an unknown passenger who had been sitting opposite reading a book on the Battle of Trafalgar, according to Mr Picardo.

The passenger appears to have passed the image to the Spanish website.

No.6 Convent Place said the Government had repeatedly stated publicly that discussions on the negotiation would continue between formal rounds of talks.

In July, it said those discussions would be “ongoing and take place at different levels”.

On Saturday, it dismissed any suggestion that the meeting had been “secret or undisclosed”.

It said given such meetings were “innumerable”, the Gibraltar Government only made announcements when they were formal negotiating rounds or when they involved ministerial representation from other governments.

The government did not say who had attended the meetings in Cordoba on Friday. The Spanish Government and UK Government have not made any public statement on the meeting either.

“We have stated repeatedly that we are constantly meeting with colleagues from the UK, the EU and Spain as we continue to try to finalise negotiations for a safe and secure treaty between the UK and the EU which settles our future relationship with the EU and which has no implications for sovereignty,” Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said.

“I am very proud to be leading the Gibraltar negotiations, alongside Joseph Garcia.”

“The work is constant and unrelenting and occurs daily by telephone, email, WhatsApp, video conferences and in person meetings.”

“It has not abated through the summer months as we try to finalise matters as soon as possible.”

“Work on the proposed treaty therefore continues, with more formal rounds to be announced shortly starting in September, and as soon as we are able to announce areas of progress or agreement, we will do so.”

“It has continued today, Saturday and will continue tomorrow, Sunday.”

“Yesterday we met in Cordoba with officials to review progress and the work that remains to be done.”

“We were surreptitiously photographed by a fellow passenger on the train, who was ironically reading a book about the battle of Trafalgar and was clearly not friend of Gibraltar who has passed a copy of the photograph to a Spanish website.”

Cloudcity · 30 August 2022 13:24

The consecutive incursions by a Spanish Air Force aircraft and a Spanish Navy patrol boat last week suggests that efforts may well be underway to torpedo a Brexit agreement for Gibraltar.

PANORAMA has long warned of the danger that this could happen ever since the negotiations were stayed over the summer months.
AIR FORCE
On Tuesday, it was reported that a Spanish Air Force C235 was at the centre of an incident in the airspace above Gibraltar. It decided to conduct a low level pass at the very same time that an RAF Wildcat helicopter was taking off.

Cloudcity · 30 August 2022 13:38

*Picardo’s self-conscious and defensive reaction to Cordoba meeting revelation
*Not a routine meeting possibly
*Discussions were/are with EU not Spain
*Voters deserve more openness and transparency where talks with Spain are involved
*High level talks involving the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney General
*Talks with EU, why just Spain now?
*Voters wait for public announcement, in the meantime blind faith is called for
*Revelation by a fellow passenger
*Oddly labelled anti-Gibraltar because reading about the British victory at Trafalgar

CHIEF MINISTER’S DEFENSIVE REACTION

The Chief Minister has self-consciously and defensively reacted to the revelation that an unannounced (to avoid the use of the word ‘secret’) meeting took place between him, the Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney General and Spanish government and Spanish Foreign Ministry officials in Cordoba last week.

The disclosure in Spanish online news media ‘Noticias Gibraltar’ is not lacking in being newsworthy, despite the weak attempt in the GSLP-Liberal Government press release to make it sound as lacking in importance by classifying it to be part of the routine of the current process of Gibexit talks.

The huge influence (not to call it power) exerted by Spain on Gibexit is shown clearly by those Córdoba talks having taken place.

NOT ROUTINE

Paint it as he likes it is not the same as the routine ongoing exchanges that GSLP-Liberal Chief Minister says have been ongoing. It is a meeting involving the highest level of participation from Gibraltar’s elected and unelected representatives.

To quote his Facebook post “As we already said in our press release of 15th July 2022, discussions continue at all levels. Meetings, telephone calls, virtual calls, letters, emails, WhatsApp and WhatsApp voice and video calls have been happening every day.”

DISCUSSIONS WITH EU, NOT SPAIN

The discussions are with the EU with Gibraltar participating as part of the UK delegation.

The discussions, until what has been revealed now, were not directly between high level Gibraltar ministers and the Attorney General and Spanish government and Spanish Foreign Ministry officials in a Spanish City.

Why that development or if it is not a development why has that come to light in the manner that it has now? Surely voters deserve more openness and transparency on the make-up and procedure of the talks, albeit that we all must swallow that no detail can be made public. To date not even the agenda is publicly known.

NOT OPEN AND TRANSPARENT

It is inaccurate to say that “There is … nothing remotely secret or undisclosed about such meetings having taken place and continuing to take place.”

It is not open and transparent that “the Government only makes announcements of such meetings when they are formal negotiating rounds or when they involve senior Ministerial representation from other Governments Involved.” If high-level meetings are to be held with Spain those should have been announced.

The involvement of our Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney General makes those meetings high-level, irrespective of who attends them for Spain. The mere fact that it is a meeting in Spain with the Spanish government officials makes it of huge interest and newsworthy, as proven by the extensive reaction to the revelation.

GIBRALTAR REPRESENTATIVES INVOLVED IN SERIOUS TALKS

Surely the involvement of our highest elected representatives, none less than our Chief Minister, and the Deputy Chief Minister, accompanied by the Attorney General at a meeting in Spain exclusively with Spanish officials (and no one from the EU delegation to formal negotiations), which he admits in the press release is not a “formal negotiating round” is even more deserving of a public announcement to Gibraltar’s electors.

If it is not a “formal negotiating round” what is it? Is it an attempt to come to terms with Spain to get progress in the talks between the U.K. and the EU? If so it emphasises Spain’s control.

It is a public announcement that was not forthcoming. It is a meeting just before the long weekend that would have gone by unseen by Gibraltar’s voters.

MORE SERIOUS DISCUSSION OR JUST A REVIEW?

The meeting must have involved some serious discussion which could not be dealt with in “telephone calls, virtual calls, letters, emails, WhatsApp and WhatsApp voice and video calls”. Yet the Chief Minister tells us that he, the Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney General “met in Cordoba with officials to review progress and the work that remains to be done.”

If there was anything that could be dealt with on “telephone calls, virtual calls, letters, emails, WhatsApp and WhatsApp voice and video calls”, surely it is no less than that, most of which would already be recorded in minutes or notes. That indicates the discussions engaged more serious matters than a procedural review. What they are remains secret.

TALKS BY UK WITH EU, SO WHY NOW JUST SPAIN?

The Chief Minister has throughout emphasised that any treaty over Gibraltar will be “between the UK and the EU to settle our future relationship with the EU and which has no implications for sovereignty.”

Yet now unannounced high-level talks engaging none less than the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, and Attorney General take place with the Spanish Government in Cordoba.

MATTERS TO BE FINALISED AND ANNOUNCED?

It is pleasing to be told that, “we try to finalise matters as soon as possible” and that “as soon as we are able to announce areas of progress or agreement, we will do so”.

Talk is of finalising, which indicates progress is well advanced towards a final agreement. Yet we must wait for any areas of progress to be announced, again a clear indication that a positive outcome to the talks is still expected by the Chief Minister.

NO BLIND FAITH

This blogger supports the concept of a Gibexit ‘deal’, but any final take must rest on the reality of what is announced. Right now, only those negotiating know what that is. Blind faith is for the religious.

In politics, especially international relations engaging those who have a claim on our sovereignty, there can be no blind faith. Mr. Picardo you have put yourself in a place where the responsibility on your shoulders is huge. You do not justify your decision to your electors. You simply plough on. You must get it right, therefore.

FELLOW PASSENGER

Then the extraordinary, and very self-conscious and defensive, statement from the Chief Minister, “We were surreptitiously photographed by a fellow passenger on the train, who was ironically reading a book about the battle of Trafalgar and was clearly not a friend of Gibraltar who has passed a copy of the photograph to a Spanish website.”

It is difficult to understand how anyone read “ironically”. It is even more difficult to understand how reading a book on the Battle of Trafalgar makes one “not a friend of Gibraltar”. Historically Lord Nelson achieved a massive defeat of the joint Spanish and French fleet at Trafalgar.

What may be ironic is that the meeting took place in Córdoba, the birthplace of the Córdoba Agreement.

Cloudcity · 23 September 2022 13:17

CM urges Spain to avoid ‘last-minute hardball’ in treaty negotiations, hints at referendum ‘at right moment’

Spain should avoid “falling foolishly into the trap” of applying “last-minute pressure” at the border during the final stages of negotiation for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s future relations with the bloc, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said on Thursday.

Mr Picardo said he believed Spain continued to negotiate in good faith but acknowledged there was “a lot being lost” between Madrid’s official position and the reality at the border, where many people have faced long queues and stringent checks in recent weeks.

Speaking on Radio Gibraltar’s Direct Democracy programme on Thursday, Mr Picardo said a formal round of talks scheduled for this week had not taken place because technical work required ahead of that meeting had been delayed by commitments following the death of the Queen.

And quizzed on whether he would put the treaty to a referendum, he repeated earlier statements that his government had a mandate to negotiate post-Brexit arrangements but added too that he would not “shy away” from a public vote “at the right moment”.

The Chief Minister said technical work on the treaty continued and that a new date for the next formal round would be scheduled soon.

He would not be drawn on when a treaty might be ready, adding that although remaining issues related to immigration and Customs management and not sovereignty, it was vital to “get them right” in order to secure a safe deal.

"If the agreement is going to be safe and secure, it has to be negotiated very carefully and if you reach a disagreement, you become embroiled in an impasse and you have to find a way round that impasse which does not amount to a concession or a compromise..,” he said.

"That is what I think all parties are doing in good faith and wanting to achieve in good faith."

"None of the parties here would succeed by beating the other party on the fundamental issues."

"We all have to succeed by ensuring that all of us have been able to have a treaty which is safe and secure to all the parties and which doesn't require that any of the parties provide concession on an issue on which we will not any of us concede."

Mr Picardo acknowledged the difficulties people had faced crossing into Spain but said that in part, those arose from the reality of Gibraltar now being outside the EU and the frontier being an external Schengen border.

"I would rather believe that that is by accident and not by design,” he said of the checks, while cautioning too that international obligations remained on both sides.

But he warned that in the absence of a treaty, Gibraltar would reciprocate with the same provisions being applied by Spain and the EU, including for cross-border workers with rights under the Withdrawal Agreement.

“We will have to check every single day, individual by individual, whether they have the benefits of the Withdrawal Agreemen or not,” he said.

"Because we have no intention of issuing them with a document that we would recognise in that respect."

"It is very easy for Spain, in the latter stages of this negotiation, to decide that the best tactic to take is to play hardball, to put pressure on the Gibraltarians notionally, so that we somehow soften up in the negotiation."

"Well, 50 years of experiencing the Gibraltarians would have taught them, if the Spanish were listening, that putting pressure on the Gibraltarians achieves nothing other than ensuring that we realise that we might not have friends on the other side of the negotiating table."

"I do hope that we are not seeing Spain fall foolishly into the trap of thinking pressure at the last minute helps," he added.

"Pressure at the last minute could actually break this because it might make the Gibraltarians think that it's the same old Spain that we have seen in 84, 67 and 69."

"I do believe it is not the same old Spain, but the proof of the pudding is always in the eating, unfortunately."

Asked whether any treaty would be put to a referendum, something many people in Gibraltar are calling for, Mr Picardo said “there is a right moment and a wrong moment for a referendum”.

Mr Picardo reminded listeners that the treaty will have “a number of phases”, including an initial four-year period at the end of which the parties can decide whether to maintain the agreement or withdraw from it.

He said Gibraltar needed to be “strong and empowered” throughout the period of negotiation.

"People elect a Parliament for the purposes of the parliamentarians giving effect to their manifestoes and to make the decisions that we are empowered to make through our representation of the people of Gibraltar,” the Chief Minister said.

"It is also true that this treaty, if it emerges, will change our relationship with the European Union very materially, and the fact that we are in the stage at which we are arises from a decision made in a referendum in 2016."

"So I do believe that there is a right moment to put the issues that the treaty will give rise to in a referendum."

"Nobody is going to find me standing in the way of the people of Gibraltar expressing their views, especially on the work product that I have led, in the context of a referendum."

"I'm not going to shy away from submitting that work product to a plebiscite, a referendum of the people, but I think it has to be done at the right time, in the right way and in a way that is designed to empower Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians in the best possible way, in the best possible moment."

Cloudcity · 27 September 2022 15:28

Spain has “a clear vision” of what shared prosperity between Gibraltar and the Campo should mean in practice, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, said on Tuesday, without offering any further insight into treaty talks where content has yet to be agreed.

Speaking during a breakfast briefing organised by the Europa Press news agency, Mr Albares said the UK and Spain agreed that a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s future relations with the bloc was “the best thing” for the region after Brexit.

But he added too that the detail of that treaty had yet to be finalised.

Mr Albares, in common with all other parties in the negotiation, gave no clue as to the progress of the talks or any areas of disagreement, other than to say: “Spain makes proposals to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom makes proposals to Spain.”

“We [meaning Spain] have a very clear idea of what that area of shared prosperity should be,” he added, again without offering any insight into what the meant.

“We could already start writing a first draft of that accord.”

“But to do that, we also need the United Kingdom to also be in agreement.”

“Because at the moment, we are in agreement on reaching an accord. Now we have to see if we are in agreement on its content.”

Mr Albares was speaking after Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, last week told the United Nations General Assembly that his government remained committed to negotiating a treaty as long as it respected long-standing core Spanish positions on Gibraltar.

“This agreement must fully respect UN doctrine regarding said territory, with which Spain is fully aligned,” Mr Sanchez said in a speech at the UN in New York.

“And it must, too, respect the legal position of my country as concerns the sovereignty and jurisdiction thereof.”

“We wish to work to develop an area of social and economic prosperity encompassing Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar in their entirety.”

Mr Albares’ comments followed too statements from Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, who said all parties continued to negotiate in good faith towards a shared goal, but also urged Spain not to use tighter border checks as a last-minute tactic to add pressure.

“We all have to succeed by ensuring that all of us have been able to have a treaty which is safe and secure to all the parties and which doesn't require that any of the parties provide concession on an issue on which we will not any of us concede,” Mr Picardo said.

A formal UK/EU negotiating round scheduled for last week in London was postponed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II disrupted diaries and slowed down technical work that should have been completed in advance.

The meeting has yet to be re-scheduled but on Monday, Mr Albares said he would be travelling to London soon to meet the UK’s new Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, for discussions on Gibraltar and other matters.

Mr Albares said he and Mr Cleverly had already spoken about the Gibraltar negotiation in a telephone call, although not in any detail.

He said the Foreign Secretary had a good understanding of Gibraltar issues from his previous role a Minister for Europe.

Mr Albares said the same too of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, who until recently had been Foreign Secretary and had discussed Gibraltar with him on a number of occasions.

“Liz Truss knows the Gibraltar dossier well,” Mr Albares said.

“Both of us agreed on the goal…and that the best thing is to find an agreement for a broad area of shared prosperity between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar, which are very intimately linked.”

Cloudcity · 4 October 2022 21:30

Treaty could create 'arc of prosperity' that is 'the envy of the world' CM tells UN Fourth Committee

Gibraltar is looking to produce a new treaty with the EU which will remove barriers to mobility for people and goods, and which could create an 'arc of prosperity that can be the envy of the whole world, the Chief Minister has told the United Nations Fourth Committee.

However, he said, this needs to be done respecting each other's positions, jurisdiction, responsibilities and international legal obligations.

Fabian Picardo said there was no role for any party other than the UN in Gibraltar's decolonisation.

UK Commitments

In his first post-pandemic address before the Fourth Committee, the Chief Minister said Gibraltar was safe in the knowledge of the UK's commitment not to enter into sovereignty arrangements without the consent of its people. He said this was not just a political commitment, but a legally binding one, enshrined in the 2006 Constitution.

He said the UK was not in Gibraltar as a colonising power, but rather with the consent of its people.

Regional Asset

Mr Picardo said British Sovereignty was an asset for the whole region, already creating wealth, and capable of generating even more.

He said Gibraltar was seeking to work with its neighbours in demonstrating that historical disagreements could be put aside, achieving something historic for all humankind.

The Chief Minister said he had done easier things in life, but that technical difficulties had not deterred the 'magnificent' negotiating teams.

SDGG Address

The Chairman of the Self Determination for Gibraltar Group, Richard Buttigieg, reminded the Fourth Committe that it was the Preamble to the UN Charter which affirmed the equal rights of 'nations large and small'.

He said more than 30 years into the so called 'last decade of decolonisation', the Committee had done nothing as far as Gibraltar was concerned.

Mr Buttigieg said Gibraltar had done more than enough for it to be removed from the UN list of non-self-governing territories.

Spanish Intervention

The Spanish ambassador to the UN, Agustin Santos Maraver, told the committee the UN had adopted a series of resolutions over the years which had invited the UK and Spain to resolve the Gibraltar question bilaterally.

It said the UK had ignored the doctrine of the UN.

However he said Spain was in favour of prosperity for the people of Gibraltar as well as its neighbouring regions.

Mr Santos Maraver said the objective of New Year's Eve agreement was to reach an understanding of shared prosperity.

But he said Spain's position of sovereignty would not waver.

Cheeky-Monkey · 5 October 2022 08:02

CM expected to emphasise sole right of Gibraltarians to determine future of Gibraltar at UN

CM expected to emphasise sole right of Gibraltarians to determine future of...

Chief Minister’s address to UN Special Political & Decolonisation...

Cloudcity · 5 October 2022 13:54

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo used a speech to the UN’s Fourth Committee on Tuesday to signal confidence in ongoing negotiations for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc, and his hope that it will open a new era in positive cross-border relations.

In his first in-person address in New York since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Picardo made clear that only the Gibraltarians could determine the future of their homeland, a position he said was defended by the UK both politically and in the 2016 Constitution.

But in setting out, once again, Gibraltar’s position on self-determination, he was careful too to signal the Rock’s desire for normalised relations with Spain and the EU that moved away from “sterile” age-old differences over sovereignty.

“We are a year in [to the treaty talks] and we are making good progress,” he told the UN.

“The easy thing to do is to call off doing such a treaty as it is too difficult,” the Chief Minister said.

“The hard thing to do is to keep at it, to redouble efforts and look away from apparently intractable disagreements, determined instead to find alternative ways to bring harmony where there has historically been discord.”

“I believe we can achieve that, with continued goodwill and without concessions on matters of cardinal importance to each side. “

“I do confess I have done easier things in life.”

“But forgive me for quoting JFK when I tell you that all of us who are involved in this negotiation know that the prize at the end of this task is greater and worth pursuing, ‘not because it is easy, but because it is hard’.”

“And I know that technical difficulty has not deterred the magnificent negotiating teams that each side has assembled.”

The Chief Minister’s positive messaging on the treaty talks was counterbalanced by a clear statement on Gibraltar’s traditional position on sovereignty, which has remained unchanged over the many years that Gibraltarian political leaders have addressed the UN.

For Mr Picardo, the two were not incompatible.

“When it comes to our political rights, only we, the people of Gibraltar, will determine the future of Gibraltar,” he said.

“When it comes to our decolonisation, our inalienable right to self-determination must be respected and we must be delisted.”

“When it comes to our relations with our neighbours, we seek harmony and peaceful cooperation.”

“When it comes to our future relationship with the European Union, we will work to deliver unimpeded fluidity at our frontiers for persons and goods.”

Earlier in his address, Mr Picardo told the UN that Gibraltarians enjoyed a mature partnership with the UK, with self-determination at its core.

And reflecting on life after Brexit, he said Gibraltar’s British sovereignty and its common law system, together with the “entrepreneurial flair and industry” of the Gibraltarians, already created wealth not just in Gibraltar but in the neighbouring region.

Outside the EU, that British sovereignty was an asset, he said.

“In our negotiations with the EU we are working to produce a new UK\EU treaty that will remove barriers to mobility of people and goods, and enable us to create even more wealth, stability and prosperity for Gibraltar and the whole region,” Mr Picardo told the Fourth Committee.

“Such a treaty will be the spark to re-energise the whole region, generating tremendous opportunities for all who are lucky enough to live in our privileged setting.”

“Imagine the energy and resources that Spain, the United Kingdom and Gibraltar put into arguing before you and with each other channelled, instead, into working together.”

Mr Picardo said Gibraltar wanted to work with its neighbours and demonstrate that historical disagreements could be set aside for the benefit of communities on either side of the border.

“We can show that there is a route away from sterile disagreement and toward mutually beneficial outcomes,” he told the UN.

“And we can show that with goodwill, hard work and determination we can produce positive outcomes that do not require negative compromise by any party to negotiations.”

“We can do it respecting each other’s positions, jurisdiction, responsibilities and international legal obligations.”

“And of course, recognising each other as a prerequisite.”

“And if we achieve that in the context of our perennial disagreement, then we will achieve something historic for the people we represent and for all humankind.”

As always in these speeches before the UN, Mr Picardo set out Gibraltar’s belief that the Gibraltarians “undoubtedly enjoy the inalienable right of self-determination” under international law.

He said that in accordance with that international law and its “obligations” to the Gibraltarians, the UN should decolonise Gibraltar “exclusively” through the principle of self-determination.

“That is to say, our decolonisation can be completed only in keeping with our wishes and aspirations as a people,” he said.

“And in this pending exercise, there is no role for any party other than the United Nations, the Administering Power, the United Kingdom and us, the People of the Non-Self-Governing Territory.”

Mr Picardo noted that Gibraltar had repeatedly invited the UN Committee of 24 to visit the Rock to understand on the ground the situation of its people.

But the Committee of 24 has never taken up the offer.

“If the C24 does not wish to learn about the people of Gibraltar, why should it, or this committee, entertain any suggestion that our decolonisation should be underpinned by anything other than our inalienable right to self-determination?” Mr Picardo said.

“We therefore appear before you to confidently assert that right, which forms the bedrock of all our international relationships.”

Mr Picardo reminded the UN that Gibraltar’s relationship with the UK was not a colonial one and had at its core the double-lock commitment that the UK would neither change or even discuss sovereignty against the wishes of the Gibraltarians.

He said that was not just a political commitment but one set out in law in the preamble to the 2016 Constitution, and one that the UK had repeatedly stated before the UN.

“This committee needs to understand that in taking that position, the United Kingdom is upholding our rights under international law to decide our future, over our land and our home,” the Chief Minister said.

“The United Kingdom is thus supporting your work and our right to self-determination.”

Mr Picardo urged the UN to procced to remove Gibraltar from its list of non-self-governing territories in accordance with the principle of self-determination.

And he left no room for doubt as to the wishes of the Gibraltarians.

“The people of Gibraltar will not consent to any discussion or negotiation of one iota of the sovereignty of our land, sea or air,” he said.

“We will simply not accept it.”

“And any idea that our removal from the list of non-self-governing territories should be informed by anything other than our sacrosanct right to self-determination is untenable.”