After years of complex negotiations, the European Union and the United Kingdom have reached a landmark agreement on Gibraltar, closing one of the last remaining gaps in the post-Brexit legal framework and opening a new chapter in cross-border relations on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) agreed on Wednesday on the texts of the deal, along with decisions on its signing and provisional application. The agreement is expected to enter into force on a provisional basis on 15 July 2026, pending a final formal adoption once the Council's lawyer-linguists complete their legal and linguistic review.
Filling the Post-Brexit Gap
The accord complements the Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed in 2020 and in force since 2021, the cornerstone of post-Brexit EU-UK relations from which Gibraltar had been conspicuously absent. Its primary aim is to dismantle the physical barriers to the movement of people and goods between Spain and Gibraltar, while preserving the integrity of the Schengen area, the EU Single Market and the Customs Union.
Cyprus Hails the Outcome
Cyprus' Permanent Representative to the EU, Christina Rafti, was among the first to welcome the outcome, describing the agreement as a milestone in EU-United Kingdom relations. Speaking after Wednesday's Coreper session, she noted that the Cyprus Presidency had worked intensively to advance the negotiations, and expressed confidence that the deal would pave the way for a stronger, mutually beneficial and forward-looking partnership, one that she said would benefit not only the people of the Gibraltar region, but the European Union as a whole.
For Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory that voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, the agreement represents a long-awaited resolution to years of uncertainty over its unique position at the frontier between the UK and the EU's single market.
Source: CNA