New report suggests Gibraltar deal could help unblock UK access to EU defence projects

An independent research report on changes on the UK/EU relationship has found there is plenty more re-alignment happening behind the scenes than the much publicised reset in May. 

The report from the Kings College London academic think tank ‘UK in a Changing Europe,’ identifies 21 cases of UK-EU re-alignment from October last year to June, compared to just four in its previous edition.

One of these is the agreement over Gibraltar, which it says places Gibraltar in a customs union with the EU, resolves a long standing dispute and opens up potential for closer military co-ordination.

On Gibraltar, the report focuses on these two main issues- the Customs Union and defence.

The agreed customs union where Gibraltar will have to ensure all goods meet EU standards, the reconciliation of import duty, and an open border are seen by the report as areas of alignment.

On defence, it states the agreement over Gibraltar could lead Spain to end its opposition to UK involvement in EU Defence projects.   One of the parts of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy the UK may wish to participate in is joining the Permanent Structured Co-operation (Pesco) Projects on a range of defence aspects.  This, according to the report could be aided by the agreement as Spain has so far refused to approve UK participation because of the impasse over Gibraltar.

It believes the deal could well have unblocked other agreements which would deepen UK-EU co-operation.