The UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw and the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Excmo Sr Josep Pique i Camps, met in London on 26 July to relaunch talks about Gibraltar, the rocky outcrop on the southern tip of Spain which the country has been trying to reclaim ever since signing away its rights over it to England in the Treaty of Utrecht 300 years ago.
The Ministers met under the terms of the Brussels Declaration made in the joint communique issued in November 1984. In the spirit of the good relations existing between the UK and Spain, both Ministers underlined their intention and political will to overcome all their differences over Gibraltar, and to make every effort to bring these talks to a successful and speedy conclusion to the benefit of all parties involved. Both sides discussed their approach to the practical issues of co-operation and sovereignty.
They confirmed that the engagement of Gibraltar itself will be an important element in carrying this process forward, and said they would welcome the attendance of the Chief Minister of Gibraltar at future and Ministerial meetings.
There has been no substantive progress in the talks since they were broken off four years ago, but the Gibraltar issue is a constant problem for the EU, since Spain uses every opportunity it can find to make difficulties over Gibraltar's inclusion in EU programmes.
Spain submitted proposals in 1997 for a period of joint sovereignty for at least 50 years, followed by autonomy within Spain, but the UK has never accepted these proposals as a basis for discussion. After last week's talks, Jack Straw said: 'We do not see the Matutes proposals as a basis for future discussions. We are starting from a different agenda.' But when Senor Pique was asked in Spain if the proposals had been rejected, he said he was surprised at the use of that word.
Gibraltar's Chief Minister Peter Caruana said: "as far as I am concerned the Matutes proposals have been buried and disposed of in a manner that is entirely effective and satisfactory for Gibraltar. It is not credible to argue otherwise." The Opposition alliance however condemned the failure of the British Government to reject the Matutes proposals 'categorically, unambiguously and formally'.
'It is clear from the joint statement', says the alliance, 'that the
link between discussing the sovereignty issues and the so-called issues
of cooperation (which are really persuading Spain to remove the immoral
and often illegal obstacles
it places in the path of the exercise of our EU rights) will feature as
part and parcel of the relaunched negotiating process.' The Opposition
says that it is contrary to Gibraltar's interests for the Government of
Gibraltar to participate in the Brussels negotiating process in any shape
or form.
Mr Caruana said that he would attend talks if two conditions were met, one being a commitment by the British government that it would be absolutely safe for Gibraltar to attend in that nothing would be agreed that Gibraltar did not want, and secondly that he was given a proper place in the negotiating table.
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