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Agreement announced
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Communique of the ministerial meeting of the
forum of dialogue on Gibraltar 18-09-2006
1. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of the Kingdom
of Spain, Mr Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Minister for Europe of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland, Mr Geoff Hoon
and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Mr Peter Caruana held the first
ministerial meeting of the Trilateral Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar
("the Forum") in Cordoba today under the terms of the Joint
Communiqué of 16 December 2004.
2. Since the establishment of the Forum there have been five rounds
of discussions. This has made it possible to address a number of
issues in detail, and in a constructive spirit, and to resolve them
in a way acceptable to Governments of Spain, the United Kingdom and
Gibraltar ("the participants"), so as to benefit both Gibraltar and
the Campo de Gibraltar, and thus contribute to the creation of a
constructive atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and co-operation.
3. We are therefore happy to announce today a package of agreements
which we believe will enhance the economic and social development of
both Gibraltar and the surrounding region, in particular the Campo
de Gibraltar. These agreements show our commitment to the solution
of specific problems but have no implications whatsoever regarding
sovereignty and jurisdiction, or regarding any issues thereby
affected, and any activity or measure undertaken in applying them,
or as a consequence of them, is understood to be adopted without
prejudice to the respective positions on sovereignty and
jurisdiction. The Government of Gibraltar understands and accepts
that references to sovereignty in this Communiqué are bilateral to
the UK and Spain.
The Pensions Issue
4. We are glad to announce a settlement of the issue of the pensions
of former Spanish workers in Gibraltar, the details of which are set
out in the Statement on Pensions attached to this Communiqué as
Annex 1. From our earliest discussions about the establishment of
the Forum, we agreed on the need to tackle this issue, given the age
and financial vulnerability of the group of people affected. Thanks
to the thorough work carried out by our technical experts and to our
political determination to resolve this issue, we are able to offer
a solution which we believe is fair and balanced to all the former
Spanish workers who suffered the consequences of decisions adopted
in the 1960s. Every affected pensioner will be personally informed
of this offer shortly, and we hope that those affected will welcome
the settlement which the participants regard as final. The Gibraltar
Government will make a separate statement shortly in respect of
other Gibraltar pensioners.
Gibraltar Airport
5. We have also been able to agree upon arrangements that will
facilitate the enhanced use of the Gibraltar Airport for civilian
air traffic for the benefit of Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar.
Details of the agreement are set out in the Statement on Gibraltar
Airport attached to this Communiqué as Annex 2. The full
implementation of that Statement entails the construction of a new
single air terminal adjoining the south side of the fence/frontier,
and related road and access works. We have therefore agreed to
advance, as far as possible, the implementation of many of the
provisions of that Statement, so as to enable the citizens of
Gibraltar and the surrounding area to enjoy the benefits thereof
even before these civil works are completed.
Fence/Frontier
6. More fluid movement of people, vehicles and goods between
Gibraltar and the surrounding area will improve the day to day
lives of people in Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar. The
Spanish Government, through the Agencia Estatal de Administración
Tributaria, is already investing close to one and a half million
euros in substantial improvement works to its facilities and those
of the Guardia Civil. The works will be completed this year, at
which time the access will operate on a two lane basis in both
directions and the red/green channels system, for both people and
for vehicles, will be introduced. The Gibraltar Government has also
invested substantial sums of money on the enhancement of its
facilities.
7. We also commit ourselves to keep the situation under review and
to study additional measures to further improve the fluidity of
both commercial and non-commercial traffic in both directions,
bearing in mind the challenge posed by an annual traffic of more
than seven million persons between territories with different
customs regimes since Gibraltar is outside the EU Customs Union,
and given also the fact that the UK (and thus Gibraltar) are
outside the Schengen area for external borders purposes. As long as
these differences remain, certain controls are necessary, and this,
coupled with traffic volumes means that some delays are inevitable.
However, we acknowledge that the fluidity of traffic will continue
to be an important issue for the Forum given the high numbers of
daily movements for reasons of work, commerce and leisure.
Telecommunications
8. In the field of telecommunications, and in order to both address
the current limitation on the quantity of telephone numbers in
Gibraltar accessible from and through the Spanish network, and also
enable roaming agreements between networks in Spain and Gibraltar
for mobile telephones, telephone calls from Spain to Gibraltar will
be channelled using the technical procedures for international
direct dialling recommended by the International
Telecommunications Union for all States and territories, including
the territory of Gibraltar.
In addition, the Spanish network operators will be able to accept
the codes assigned to Gibraltar by the aforementioned organization,
in order to identify the operators in that territory. These arrangements
will become operational within four months from to-day's date, and
the 30,000 telephone numbers reserved by Spain in its national numbering
plan for access to the Gibraltar network will then be available for
reassignment in Spain. Since the introduction of mobile roaming is
a matter for the Network operators, the participants shall request from their
respective telephone Network operators that, as soon as possible,
they enter into appropriate commercial agreements, in accordance
with the rules of the free market and in compliance with the EC
Electronic Communications Directives (Directive 2002/21/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common
regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and
services) and other legal community provisions on electronic
communications, all of which have been brought into effect.
Instituto Cervantes
9. We welcome the proposal by the Spanish Government to establish
in Gibraltar an Instituto Cervantes. The Instituto Cervantes is dedicated
to increasing knowledge of the Spanish language and culture. We
welcome also the Gibraltar Government’s agreement to make available
suitable premises for the Institute, and its willingness to facilitate
its early establishment.
Comisión Mixta de Cooperación y Colaboración
10. We encourage the "Comisión Mixta de Cooperación y Colaboración
established between the Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Comarca del
Campo de Gibraltar and the Gibraltar Government" to continue its work for
the development of local co-operation. We would also welcome the
participation in the Comision Mixta of the Junta de Andalucia, as this
would enhance the efficacy of this process in areas of its competence.
Ports
11. We welcome and encourage the co-operation between the port
authorities of the Bay in relation to issues relating to their
operations, and in continuing to explore possibilities for collaboration
in fields of common interest.
Commitment to the Forum
12. We reiterate our full commitment to continue the process of
dialogue entailed by the Forum, with its open agenda, on any issue
relating to or which affects Gibraltar. We have had an exchange of
views about the range of issues that could be discussed in future
meetings of this Forum.
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