The Twenty-Seven have given this Wednesday their unanimous support to the signing and provisional implementation of the agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom that redefines Gibraltar's fit with the community bloc and foresees the dismantling of the Fence, which opens the door for it to enter into force on July 15, three months later than initially managed by Brussels and London.
The political backing of the Member States has occurred this Wednesday at a meeting of ambassadors in Brussels, as confirmed in a statement by the Council (the governments) and Europa Press reported on Tuesday. European sources have also indicated to Europa Press that no State has presented objections to the text.
Still, it is still an agreement in principle that requires formal adoption by the institution itself to finalize the signing and its provisional application. This step needs more time, at least about two months, to complete the legal and linguistic revisions of the Treaty texts, which must be available in all official languages of the EU.
The EU-UK Agreement relating to Gibraltar will come to close the legal framework of relations between the EU and the United Kingdom defined by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which normalized ties after Brexit and which has been in force since 2021, but whose scope of application does not include the Rock.
According to the Council in a note, with this new treaty the EU seeks to eliminate "all physical barriers to the movement of people and goods between Spain and Gibraltar, while fully safeguarding the Schengen area, the EU single market and its customs union".
With the political signal given this Wednesday, the Twenty-Seven try to respond to the urgency of accelerating the processing of a Treaty whose political agreement was announced in December 2024, but whose lack of formal adoption can strain the situation at the Fence given the imminent launch of the new EU external border control system next April 10, which will imply reinforced controls at crossings with third countries.
The European Entry/Exit System of the Union (EES, for its acronym in English) began to be implemented gradually in the Member States last autumn, but its full deployment is scheduled for within ten days, when the digital register that will replace the manual stamping of passports at the borders of the Schengen area must be operational at all accesses to the European Union.
Sources from the Ministry of Interior consulted by Europa Press assure that the facilities and technical equipment necessary for control at the crossing between Gibraltar and community territory are "operational and available", although they do not yet specify the concrete application schedule.
Spain negotiates with the European Commission
In any case, and regardless of the technical preparation, the absence of application of the Treaty that regulates the relationship of Gibraltar with the European Union when the EES system comes into force implies, in practice, that this territory continues to be considered for border control purposes as a third country and that travelers crossing from or to the Rock from Spanish soil must undergo registration in the new European system.
To avoid this gap, the Government has submitted a proposal to the European Commission with the aim of making the application of the EES more flexible at that border point, although the details have not been revealed nor if Brussels —which generally opposes modifying the new system's calendar— sees the Spanish request as viable.
"The Commission has received the letter from the Spanish Government regarding the EU-UK Agreement on Gibraltar and the EES and will respond to it in due course," a spokesperson for the Community Executive has indicated to questions from Europa Press.
The majority of the Member States already register "more than 75% of border crossings", but some continue to face "technical difficulties" despite the fact that the timeline was agreed upon and validated by the 27, recalls the spokesperson, who adds that the Commission maintains "close contact" with them to ensure that the system operates correctly.