Treaty implementation week - what's happening and how

Gibraltar’s post-Brexit future is finally due to move to provisional implementation this week.

After years of talks, the UK-European Union treaty on Gibraltar is expected to be signed in Brussels tomorrow, before taking effect provisionally on Wednesday.

How it's happening

The treaty itself will be signed by the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Gibraltar and Spain have been central to the negotiations and will play a major role in implementing the agreement, but they are not themselves the treaty’s legal signatories.

The signing ceremony is expected to take place in Brussels tomorrow.

The UK’s Europe Minister Stephen Doughty and European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic are expected to sign, with Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also attending.

The Concordat

Attention in Gibraltar will also focus on the separate UK-Gibraltar concordat, which has not yet been published. The document is intended to set out how Gibraltar’s self-determination will be protected, while the United Kingdom retains constitutional responsibility for external affairs.

The Government has also said it will provide a mechanism through which the people of Gibraltar could ultimately decide, by referendum, whether the agreement should be brought to an end.

Provisional implementation

On Wednesday, the treaty begins provisional application.

Gibraltar’s own implementation laws will also come into force, including the new transaction tax and revised customs arrangements.

At the frontier, the most visible change should be the removal of routine passport checks.

The first arriving flights on Wednesday are therefore likely to provide the earliest practical test of the new arrangements at the airport and port.

In Spain

Across the border, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected in La Línea for an event marking what Madrid has described as the final demolition of the fence.

The event was originally due to take place today, but was postponed following the fatal wildfire in Almería.

In London

The treaty will begin operating before the UK Parliament has completed its formal scrutiny process in the Autumn, but a debate in Commons last week pointed to cross-party support. The Government will place the signed agreement before both Houses, beginning a period of parliamentary examination before final ratification.

The European Parliament must also give its consent later this year.

So while Wednesday marks the beginning of implementation, it is not the end of the legal process.

By the end of the week, the political ceremonies are likely to have given way to the practical realities of border crossings, airport checks, freight, taxation and cross-border cooperation.