Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, said this morning that Spain would not understand the reestablishment of a ‘happy relationship’ between the European Union and the United Kingdom if London does not accept an agreement on Gibraltar now. “There is no reason for the United Kingdom not to say yes to this agreement. Without that yes, what we see is that we would not understand a rapprochement with the European Union when it does not accept an agreement that is respectful of the European Union acquis in the Schengen area and the Customs Union,” Albares said on his arrival at the meeting of European Union foreign ministers.
At this meeting, which the British Foreign Minister, David Lammy, is attending today, Albares is going to say that “Spain wants as close a relationship as possible with the United Kingdom”, but that it is important that, “once and for all, the United Kingdom says yes” to the agreement on the Rock that Spain has put on the table.
The agreement on the relationship with Gibraltar after Brexit proposed by the Spanish authorities is “generous, balanced, good for all parties”, said the minister. “For Spain, this agreement is part of the withdrawal agreement. It is a very important part”, Albares stressed, and he will remind Lammy and his 26 EU colleagues of this today.
The minister insisted that “for many, many months now, Spain has had a balanced, generous agreement, which is respectful of the European Union acquis, as it could not be otherwise, and which guarantees freedom of movement of people and freedom of movement of goods”.
And he recalled that “Spain is the European Union country with the largest colony of British citizens perfectly integrated among us, and we have enormous connectivity and cross-investment”.
Therefore, he insisted, “we must obviously resolve this situation in relation to Gibraltar”. And once this issue has been resolved, Albares made it clear that Spain wants “the closest possible relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union”.
He stated that “the United Kingdom continues to be an indispensable ally for European security and Euro-Atlantic security, and that there are many, many areas in which we can make progress”. “At this historic moment marking our re-engagement with the EU, I am delighted to be talking to 27 member states and their foreign ministers about important European security issues,” said the British Foreign Secretary as he arrived at the EU Foreign Affairs Council this morning, where he is to first meet with the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. Lammy said security between the UK and Europe “is indivisible”.
“Whether it is Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, the tremendous problems and conflicts in the Middle East or global and geopolitical issues more generally, it is hugely important that the UK and Europe remain firm and clear,” concluded Lammy, who will have a working lunch with the EU-27 today. This is the first participation of a British minister in one of these EU meetings since Brexit materialised.