The UK and EU have published a draft treaty outlining a new system for border checks in Gibraltar, aiming to remove land border checks with Spain.
The agreement, confirmed in a 1,000-page draft treaty, will see Spanish authorities conduct 'second line' Schengen-style border checks in a special zone after initial checks by Gibraltarian officials, as reported by the UK government on their website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-uk-eu-agreement-in-respect-of-gibraltar.
According to the treaty, Spanish guards will have powers to arrest, search, and interview travelers where justified during border control.
Timeline of Events
The deal is designed to bring certainty to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, nearly a decade after the Brexit vote threw its status into doubt, with pressure mounting ahead of the full application of new checks on passengers entering the passport-free Schengen zone in April.
Gibraltar's government says it is hoping to provisionally apply the deal from 10 April, the date when the EU's new border system is scheduled to become fully operational.
Reaction to the Deal
Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar's chief minister, has welcomed the agreement, saying it delivers 'the certainty our people and businesses need', while Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares likened the removal of 'La Verja', the 1.2km chain link fence along Gibraltar's land border with Spain, to the disappearance of 'the last wall in continental Europe' in a video clip on his social media https://x.com/jmalbares/status/2026946060472447112.
Border Control Details
The system should eventually allow for the removal of 'La Verja', which is crossed every day by around half of Gibraltar's workforce, and will see a majority of goods destined for Gibraltar cleared by EU customs offices in Spain, avoiding the need for customs checks at the land border.
