New 15th July date for provisional application

The UK/EU Agreement over Gibraltar is now expected to enter into provisional application on the 15th July.

This means bridging measures at the frontier will continue.  All Gibraltar residents will be able to carry on crossing into Spain as at the moment, without being subject to the Schengen Entry/ Exit system, which comes into force on the 10th of April.

The 10th of April deadline will not be felt at the Gibraltar/La Linea frontier and has now been pushed back three months. 

The Committee of Permanent Representatives has today agreed the texts of the agreement and decisions of signature as well as the provisional application.  They will be formally adopted as soon as the revisions of the Council lawyer-linguists are concluded.

In a statement, the European Council says the EU-UK Agreement in respect of Gibraltar will complete the legal framework of the relations between the EU and the United Kingdom established by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, in which Gibraltar was not included. 

It says the main objective of the agreement is to secure the future prosperity of the whole region. It says this objective will be reached by removing all physical barriers on persons and goods circulating between Spain and Gibraltar, while fully safeguarding Schengen, the EU's Single Market, and its Customs Union.  

The President of the Committee of Permanent Representatives says: 

“Today’s decision is an important achievement of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as a milestone for EU-UK relations, since it paves the way for a reinforced relation. It’s a good agreement for the people in the region and good for the EU as a whole.”