Officials from the UK, Gibraltar and the European Commission will meet on Thursday and Friday, in the latest attempt to break the deadlock on the status of the Rock, a former naval base, at the southern tip of Spain.
Trade and border-crossings between Spain and Gibraltar have been operating on ad hoc arrangements and there is no hard deadline by which an agreement on a new treaty must be reached.
However, general elections are due this year in both Spain and Gibraltar and political analysts believe that a coalition of the conservative Popular Party, which currently tops opinion polls, and the nationalist VOX party, would be far more hawkish on the Rock’s status than Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist government.
Last week, the Cross Frontier Group which brings together unions and business organisations from Spain and Gibraltar, warned that “the current state of affairs on this matter and the uncertainty caused by the contradictory news emanating from the negotiating process are subjecting the citizens of our area to stress, that we believe should be stopped immediately.”
It also called for “the dismantling of the border crossing for citizens and goods,” the group said in the letter.
(Benjamin Fox | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
