Parliament will not have to ratify the possible agreement reached between the European Union and the United Kingdom that will govern Gibraltar's future relationship with the bloc after Brexit, the negotiation of which is in a "decisive phase".
This was explained by the Government in a parliamentary response in which it clarified that the parties to the future agreement would be "exclusively the European Union and the United Kingdom", but not Spain. In response to the question from the Ciudadanos MP María del Carmen Martínez Granados as to whether "the Cortes Generales will be able to debate and vote on this final agreement (...) in the event that it is finally submitted for ratification", the Government recalled that the Constitution and the law on Treaties stipulates that the two chambers only have to pronounce themselves in the case of "international treaties to which Spain is a party".
With regard to the state of the negotiations, which the Cs deputy is also interested in, the Government clarified that they are "in a decisive phase, with the respective proposals clearly set out".
In another response to a question from Vox, the government boasts of the "global proposal" presented by the European Commission together with Spain, which "contains very reasonable technical and practical solutions, which are necessary for the construction of an area of shared prosperity and are respectful of the respective legal positions of Spain and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar".
The proposal foresees "the abolition of the fence" and includes "provisions to enable the mobility of persons and goods while ensuring the full integrity of the Schengen area and the EU internal market". It also "provides for the protection and improvement of the rights of workers and beneficiaries of social benefits and includes provisions to ensure fair and equal conditions of competition", as well as "provisions to combat money laundering and to ensure high standards of environmental protection" and "a financial mechanism for training and employment programmes in the area".
Sovereignty
All of this, the government points out to Santiago Abascal's party, "without altering Spain's position on sovereignty and jurisdiction in relation to Gibraltar". "Neither the future agreement, nor any action or measure taken in application or as a result of it, will imply any renunciation or modification of Spain's legal position with regard to sovereignty and jurisdiction" with respect to the Rock, it stresses, in line with what the government has been defending all along from the Executive.
The Government of Spain and the European Commission hope that, despite the technical complexity of the issues addressed, (the negotiations) can be concluded as soon as possible", he adds in his reply to Ciudadanos, in which he assures that he is "fully committed to ensuring that the negotiations, which continue to take place in a constructive atmosphere, conclude with a satisfactory agreement".
The Government has made clear its determination to "take the appropriate political and legal decisions to safeguard the rights of Spanish citizens and companies in the Campo de Gibraltar area" and has tried at all times to minimise the socio-economic impact of the UK's exit from the EU for this area "through provisional contingency measures, while the negotiation lasts".
Consequences of the lack of agreement
The Government warns that if the talks end without agreement, the contingency measures to apply EU legislation would cease to be in force, and draws attention to the fact that the consequences "would be negative for both the Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar". For this reason, it adds, "we are confident that the negotiations will conclude with a satisfactory agreement and we are devoting all the resources at our disposal to this task".
Finally, the Executive refers to the Plan for the Campo de Gibraltar approved in November 2018, in which ten ministries have worked in collaboration with the Junta de Andalucía, the Diputación de Cádiz and the Mancomunidad with a view to socio-economically revitalising this area, whose measures have been executed at 75% and more than 191 million euros have been mobilised. The plan, he points out, is still underway "with special attention to infrastructures in the area, for which an investment of 841 million euros is planned".