Officials from Britain, the European Union, Spain and Gibraltar signed a treaty in Brussels on Tuesday designed to address the status of Gibraltar and to make crossing the border with Spain easier for residents and visitors.
The document was signed in the Belgian capital by European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, British Minister of State for Europe Stephen Doughty, Spain's foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, and Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo. The accord follows a separate deal reached last year and is presented as bringing to an end years of political uncertainty surrounding the British overseas territory.
Under the terms of the treaty, people who live in Gibraltar will be able to cross into Spain using residence cards without the need for passport stamps. Spanish citizens will be entitled to use a government-issued ID card to cross the border. The agreement also establishes specific procedures for arrivals at Gibraltar airport: travellers will present passports to border officers representing both Gibraltar and Spain.
Separately, Britain has expressed its intention to put in place a system akin to the arrangement at St Pancras railway station in London, where French police conduct border controls for Eurostar services. The treaty text and the signatories frame that approach as a model Britain seeks to emulate for checks related to Gibraltar.
The origins of British sovereignty over Gibraltar are reflected in the treaty text, which notes that Britain gained control of the territory at the southern tip of Spain through the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, which concluded the War of Spanish Succession.
The treaty's signatories and the provisions laid out in Brussels mark a formal step toward operational change at land and air points of entry. Further detail on implementation timelines and the specific mechanics of procedures referenced in the agreement was not provided in the text signed on Tuesday.
Sector implications: The provisions have direct relevance to cross-border travel and transport operations, and to the administrative functions of border control authorities. How the provisions are implemented may affect airport procedures and land frontier operations.