Frontier passenger checks to continue as normal after supposed implementation date

Policia Nacional at the frontier have been given verbal instructions to carry passport checks as normal after the 10th April.

According to Spanish press, blue and red ID card holders will be allowed to pass without any biometric checks carried out.

This is despite the EU's electronic Entry Exit system being implemented at all other EU/Schengen borders from that date. 

This is yet another indication that things aren't quite ready for the Treaty's implementation on the 10th of April.

The date has been the target deadline because of the EU's plans to introduce its wider Entry Exit system by that date.  The Spanish government allocated funds last week to ensure there's an operational system in place whether or not the treaty is ready for implementation. The Chief Minister has said the target date of the 10 April for provisional application is now “very likely” to be missed.   Fabian Picardo has been hinting at this being the case for a few weeks now, always reiterating Gibraltar will be ready.

Now, the Spanish Press reports Policia Nacional have been told to carry on as normal at the border from the 10th April. This would mean Gibraltar residents, as well as EU nationals, will not be subject to the checks required by the new Entry Exit System and in place elsewhere in the EU. 

The Treaty has a history of having been not quite ready for perceived deadlines during a roller-coaster of negotiations.

Spain will be reluctant to spend on infrastructure that would become defunct after implementation.  At present there are only electronic gates for pedestrians.  Schengen needs its borders protected so the thinking caps must have been on tight to get round the issue.

Works are ongoing at a pace but the clock is ticking.

The initial idea was for signature to have preceded implementation, although provisional application would still have been possible. No official date or plans have been announced for signature.

The Spanish press also questions the next process -ratification-reporting that it's still not clear whether the agreement will be presented as an EU document- which would only require ratification from the European institutions or whether it would need to be ratified by each member state.  Europa Sur reports there's still a long way to go as the influence of the right wing bloc could be tested.