Spain must have a say in post-Brexit Gibraltar's future: EU

PanARMENIAN.Net - Spain must have a say over whether any post-Brexit deal applies to Gibraltar, the EU said Friday, March 31, angering the British overseas territory which fears that Madrid will seek sovereignty over the Rock, AFP reports.

The proposal is part of draft Brexit guidelines setting out the EU's position in upcoming negotiations with Britain over its exit from the bloc, and is likely to add fuel to an ongoing sovereignty row between London and Madrid over Gibraltar.

Gibraltar's leader Fabian Picardo hit out at the EU proposal, branding it "unnecessary" and "discriminatory."

The idea is also likely to face a fierce backlash from London, which has pledged to stand by the tiny rocky overseas territory on Spain's southern tip that was ceded to Britain in 1713.

"After the United Kingdom leaves the union, no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom," the EU's draft negotiating guidelines read.

This means that Madrid could potentially block Gibraltar's access to any trade deal Britain negotiates with the EU, opposition politicians in the Rock claim.

It also shows that the European Union is putting Spain -- its member state -- first.

A senior EU official said the issue of Gibraltar was included in the guidelines as it is one of a number that involve joint or contested jurisdictions, and that "the EU is naturally pursuing the interests of the remaining 27 member states."

Spain's conservative government, which has been particularly vocal about getting Gibraltar back, welcomed the latest development.

"EU recognition of the legal-political situation defended by Spain satisfies us entirely," government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told reporters.

But Picardo said it was "a disgraceful attempt by Spain to manipulate the European Council for its own, narrow, political interests."