'Not giving up sovereignty!' UK lays down gauntlet to EU ahead of Gibraltar Brexit talks
SOVEREIGNTY of Gibraltar is not up for negotiation in Brexit trade talks with the EU, ministers have vowed.
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Both the UK and Brussels have published their negotiating mandates ahead of discussions over a trade pact. When the European Commission published its plan in July, ministers told the bloc to "think again", arguing it was seeking to undermine British sovereignty over the territory.
Today the Government reaffirmed its position, warning it would not budge on the sovereignty of the Rock.
"Our position on sovereignty will remain unchanged.
"We will not discuss or agree any proposals that compromise our sovereignty," foreign office minister Wendy Morton told MPs.
Speaking to the European Scrutiny Committee, the Aldridge-Brownhills MP said the UK and Gibraltar were aligned in their aims for negotiations.
She said: "In March we had the UK Gibraltar joint ministerial council and a statement was then issued, agreed between the then Foreign Secretary and chief minister Picardo, which very much agreed a joint approach to the negotiations moving forward."
The minister added: "We are committed to now delivering a treaty that safeguards the UK's sovereignty of Gibraltar but also supports the prosperity of Gibraltar and the surrounding region."
The Rock was not agreed in the UK-EU comprehensive trade deal struck last December.
Since January, Gibraltar has relied on temporary, informal arrangements with the EU.
The temporary measures have been necessary to keep open the border with Spain which thousands of people cross every day for work, and is vital for food and goods deliveries.
At the insistence of Brussels, an agreement on trade with Gibraltar needed to be brokered separately.
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It is thought Spain was the principal member state behind the decision.
Madrid disputes ownership of Gibraltar and has made successive power-grab attempts over the years.
In a 2002 referendum, the people of Gibraltar overwhelmingly rejected joint UK-Spain sovereignty by 98.97 percent.
Ms Morton told MPs this afternoon there are several parts of the EU's negotiating mandate that the UK believes to be unacceptable.
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She said that the EU wants to remove Frontex, the bloc's border and coast guard agency, from carrying out checks and replacing them with Spanish officials.
The minister said: "It directly overrides the framework in proposing that Spain should issue visas for Gibraltar and that Spain should issue residency permits for Gibraltar.
"And that Spain should make decisions on asylum claims.
"And that Spain should have law enforcement powers on the ground.
"It also significantly over interprets the framework in proposing a whole scale application of EU law, which is totally disproportionate to the small scale of goods that actually flow between Gibraltar and the EU."
The EU's post-Brexit negotiator, Maros Sefcovic, has previously claimed the proposals tabled by the bloc would have a "positive impact" for all involved.
He said: "By putting forward this draft mandate, we are honouring the political commitment we made to Spain to start the negotiations of a separate agreement between the EU and the UK on Gibraltar.
"This is a detailed mandate, which aims to have a positive impact for those living and working on either side of the border between Spain and Gibraltar, while protecting the integrity of the Schengen Area and the single market."