Spain will be able to veto the entry of British travellers to Gibraltar and refuse residency permits on security grounds under a post-Brexit treaty governing the territory’s future relationship with the EU.
Under the draft agreement, Spanish authorities will have the power to deny entry of travellers from outside the EU – including Britons – if they are deemed to pose a risk to security, public health or international relations.
The 336-article treaty, published in draft form on Thursday, sets out plans for Spanish and British officials to carry out checks at Gibraltar’s airport and port, effectively removing the need for a hard land border with Spain.
The move is likely to spark concern among some conservatives, who argue it represents an erosion of sovereignty.
Gibraltar will remain British, but people will be able to travel freely across the land border with Spain, according to the post-Brexit agreement.
The deal will mean no routine passport checks at the Spain-Gibraltar border for the 15,000 people who cross it every day, around half of Gibraltar’s workforce.
However, checks will apply to those arriving by air, so those flying into Gibraltar from the UK will face dual border controls: one check from Gibraltarian officials and another by the Spanish on behalf of the EU, similar to French police operating at St Pancras Station.
There will also be a bespoke customs model to ‘eliminate burdensome goods checks’ at the land border, the UK Government said.
Gibraltar will align its import duty rates on goods with EU rates to allow people to cross the border with everyday goods, such as shopping, without declarations or additional charges.
However, the Rock will continue to have no VAT or any other sales tax.
The draft agreement does not affect sovereignty, stating that nothing signed ‘shall constitute the basis for any assertion or denial of sovereignty’ over the Rock, and protects UK autonomy of key military facilities.
Gibraltar’s airport is run by the Ministry of Defence and hosts an RAF base. The overseas territory also has an important naval facility.
The treaty, published in draft form on Thursday, still needs to be signed, ratified an implemented. It is set to be signed in March.
Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said: ‘This treaty ensures that Gibraltar’s economy, people, and future are protected as an integral part of the British family.
‘Working closely with the Government of Gibraltar – and agreeing nothing without their consent – we have a treaty that preserves sovereignty and delivers certainty when Gibraltar’s way of life was threatened.
‘The UK’s commitment to Gibraltar will never falter.’
Speaking in the Commons on Thursday, Mr Doughty emphasised that Gibraltar is ‘not joining Schengen’ and that ‘immigration, policing and justice remain the responsibility of its own authorities’.
He said the deal will ‘bring an end to the long queues that we have seen for workers, businesses and visitors’ at the Gibraltar-Spain border and will give businesses ‘the certainty they have sought for many years, allowing them to plan and invest with confidence’.
The Governor of Gibraltar Sir Ben Bathurst watched from the gallery as Mr Doughty told MPs that that the UK-EU treaty has the ‘full support’ of the Government of Gibraltar.
Meanwhile, chief minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo said: ‘This is a safe and secure agreement we have negotiated alongside the UK and that unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need.
‘It allows Gibraltar to look to the future with confidence, protecting our British way of life while unlocking new opportunities for growth and prosperity.
‘It is an agreement that is very good for Gibraltar-based individuals and businesses that will deliver great growth for our economy.’
However, shadow Foreign Office minister Wendy Morton argued that sovereignty is ‘not simply about words, it is about how arrangements operate in practice’.
The Conservative frontbencher raised concerns about Gibraltar adopting dynamic alignment, which is when a non-EU country or territory agrees to automatically update its domestic laws and standards to match EU regulations in certain areas.
She said: ‘This treaty does not merely apply a fixed list of EU law. It provides for future EU acts listed in the annexes to be adopted and implemented with serious consequences if they are not.’
She questioned how Gibraltar and the UK will avoid ‘becoming subject to ongoing EU rule-taking without meaningful political control’.
Ms Morton concluded: ‘There are serious questions about the operation of the border and dual checks, the role of Spanish authorities at the airport, customs and taxation arrangements, business impacts, the adoption of future EU acts listed in the annexes, ECJ (European Court of Justice) interpretation and the domestic legislation required to implement the treaty.’
Mr Doughty said the Government welcomes the scrutiny that the treaty will receive in Parliament, saying: ‘There is nothing to hide here.’
In relation to Ms Morton’s concerns about dynamic alignment, he said it is for Gibraltar to decide what kind of alignment they want to have and claimed that the Tories want to ‘stick in the ideology of the Brexit years, rather than pragmatic arrangements that deliver for the people of Gibraltar, or indeed the people of this country’.
Later, Mr Doughty said it was ‘completely erroneous’ to draw a comparison between the Chagos deal and the treaty on Gibraltar.
Responding to a question from Lincoln Jopp, Conservative MP for Spelthorne, he said it was ‘hugely unhelpful to draw false comparisons between Chagos and indeed other overseas territories’, highlighting that the chief minister of Gibraltar ‘specifically cautioned against doing so’.
Gibraltar was ceded to the UK by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the population is heavily in favour of remaining a British overseas territory.
The last time it voted on a proposal to share sovereignty with Spain, in 2002, almost 99% of Gibraltarians rejected the move.
Talks on rules governing the border have been ongoing since Britain left the European Union in 2020.
