First three-way meeting for the new British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, following the future agreement between Spain and Gibraltar. A meeting that will be held in Brussels and will also be attended by his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares; the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabián Picardo; and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovicsu.
From the Albares portfolio, they emphasize to LaSexta that they attend the meeting with the “objective” of “confirming that the United Kingdom, with the new government, assume what was agreeduntil now in the various aspects” of a future pact concerning the Rock, as well as “trying to advance as much as possible”.
An agreement in which the “Spanish side”, insists the Foreign Affairs, will continue to “offer a generous and balanced agreement with the freedom of movement of people and goods which respects Schengen and customs controls as in the rest of the area” which meets these conditions.
This is the first meeting on the subject that Lammy has held since he became his country’s top diplomat following last July’s elections and the Rishi Sunak exits as prime minister. Albares, Sefcovic, Picardo and David Cameron, then British foreign secretary, last met in Brussels in May, in a meeting in which they made “significant progress,” the four men said in a joint statement after the meeting.
However, the subsequent calling of elections in the United Kingdom and the change of government have slowed down the process, although it is true that negotiations have not stopped in recent months. In fact, shortly after Lammy became head of British diplomacy, Albares and he had a telephone conversationand the two men discussed Gibraltar at a meeting in early July on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.
There, Albares and Lammy agreed to resume negotiations on Gibraltar as soon as possible. Later that same Monday, the two heads of diplomacy of their respective countries They met in London to ensure that “a common prosperity is created between Gibraltar and those 300,000 Andalusians who are connected every day” to the Rock, Albares told reporters at the start of the meeting in the British capital.
Lammy, for his part, stressed London’s interest in “achieve this prosperity”as well as “the security of the people of Gibraltar with a new treaty that cements relations with Spain and the European Union”, as part of the “reset” of relations with the EU desired by the new Labour executive of Keir Starmer. Indeed, he had a meeting last week with his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, due to the migration crisis in Europe.
Also last Monday, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabián Picardo, showed his confidence in the work to reach an agreement on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU. “I hope to continue the search for an agreement for a Treaty between the United Kingdom and the EU on Gibraltar’s future relations with the EU”.
Of course, Picardo admitted that “there are still technical problems to be solved”, while stressing that it is necessary to continue to “be optimistic regarding the possibility of reaching a secure, mutually beneficial agreement that would bring renewed and improved prosperity to the entire region,” Picardo said.
