Brexit Negotiations and Gibraltar: Time for a "Modus Vivendi"

AutorAlejandro del Valle Gálvez
CargoCo-Director of the Journal Cuadernos de Gibraltar/Gibraltar Reports.
Páginas19-26
19
Cuadernos de Gibraltar – Gibraltar Reports
Número 2/Issue # 2, 2016-2017, pp. 19-26
ISSN 2444-7382
BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS AND GIBRALTAR:
TIME FOR A ‘MODUS VIVENDI’?
DR. ALEJANDRO DEL VALLE-GÁLVEZ 1
The unexpected outcome of the United Kingdom’s ‘Brexit’ referendum
on leaving the European Union may have historic and even tragic conse-
quences for Gibraltar, since it necessarily entails both a reconsideration of
the status of Gibraltar and changes in Spain’s perspective on a solution to
the dispute. Following Brexit, negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the
EU will not only pave the way for a new European and international legal
framework, but will also create an opportunity for Spain to redef‌i ne its rela-
tionship with Gibraltar, offering the possibility of new approaches to resolve
this historic dispute.
Indeed, the obligation to negotiate a UK withdrawal from the EU will
compel Gibraltar to redef‌i ne its European legal status, regardless of whe-
ther it remains within or outside EU law. This places Gibraltar in the very
uncomfortable position of being forced to seek to negotiate a new arran-
gement within the EU legal framework; unquestionably the framework of
greatest practical daily application, together with two other international legal
frameworks, namely the Treaty of Utrecht and the UN ’doctrine’ about the
decolonization of Gibraltar.
A UNIQUE STATUS WITHIN THE EU
Gibraltar has been in the EC/EU since 1973, as part of the UK’s mem-
bership. EU Law is applicable to Gibraltar, not as a territory of the UK as a
Member State, but as a European territory whose external relations the UK
is responsible for (Article 355.3 TFEU2). The specif‌i c position of Gibraltar
in the EU has its foundations in the status established in the UK Accession
Treaty of 1972. As a result, EU Law is applicable in Gibraltar, with some
1 Co-Director of the Journal Cuadernos de Gibraltar/Gibraltar Reports..
2 Article 355.- In addition to the provisions of Article 52 of the Treaty on European Union
relating to the territorial scope of the Treaties, the following provisions shall apply:
(…)3. The provisions of the Treaties shall apply to the European territories for whose exter-
nal relations a Member State is responsible.
CUADERNOS DE GIBRALTAR – GIBRALTAR REPORTS
Num 1,Número/Issue # 2, 2016-2017 | ISSN 2341-0868
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.25267/Cuad_Gibraltar.2017.i2.02

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