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?