Effect of Brexit on Gibraltar

Gibraltar did not participate in the 1975 UK European Communities membership referendum even though the result had a direct impact on it. Neither did it participate in any European Parliamentary Elections between 1979 and 1999, but in 2002 legislation was passed by the British Parliament which allowed Gibraltar to formally take part in the 2004 European Parliament election as part of the South West England constituency in all subsequent European elections. Following the surprise election victory by the Conservatives in May 2015 it was announced that Gibraltar would fully participate in the proposed referendum on continuing EU membership, and this was legislated for in the European Union Referendum Act 2015. This meant that Gibraltar was the only British Overseas Territory in the European Union (EU) and uniquely it has the right to vote in EU elections and in referenda.[1]

In 2015, Gibraltar would attempt to remain part of the EU in the event the UK voted to leave,[2] but reaffirmed that, regardless of the result, the territory would remain a British overseas territory.[3] In a letter to the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee, he requested that Gibraltar be considered in negotiations post-Brexit.[4]

Before the referendum, José García-Margallo, the Spanish minister of foreign affairs at the time, stated that in the event of Brexit, Gibraltar would not have access to the single market unless a formula giving Spain co-sovereignty were agreed for a transitional period; after the referendum, he saw the result as increasing the chance of a Spanish flag on Gibraltar.[5] He also said Spain would seek talks on Gibraltar, whose status is disputed, the "very next day" after a British exit from the EU.[6]

United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016 Gibraltar
Choice		Votes	%
	Remain a member of the European Union	19,322	95.91%
	Leave the European Union	823	4.09%
Registered voters and turnout		24,119	83.64%
Source: Electoral Commission

The European Union (Referendum) Act 2016 (Gibraltar),[7] was passed by the Gibraltar Parliament and implemented in Gibraltar after the European Union Referendum Act 2015 was passed by the UK Parliament.

During the campaign leading up to the United Kingdom's national referendum on whether to leave the European Union (known as "Brexit") the Spanish government warned that if the UK chose to leave, Spain would push to reclaim control over Gibraltar.[8] The Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo warned the UK of the threat to Gibraltar's safety posed by Brexit. All three parties represented in the legislature supported remaining in the EU during the referendum[9][10] and the Remain campaign was known as Gibraltar Stronger in Europe.

The referendum result within Gibraltar was declared early on Friday 24 June 2016 by the counting officer and Clerk to the Gibraltar Parliament Paul Martinez at the University of Gibraltar at 0040 CEST making it the first of the 382 voting areas to declare and its result was fed into the South West England regional count and then the overall national count. The result saw 4% of Gibraltarian voters opting to leave on a turnout of 84%. Overall the United Kingdom voted by 51.9% to 48.1% to leave the European Union.

The day after the result, Spain's acting Foreign Minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, renewed calls for joint Spanish–British control of the peninsula.[19] These calls were strongly rebuffed by Gibraltar's Chief Minister.[20] After the result Spain reiterated its position that it wanted to jointly govern Gibraltar with the United Kingdom and said it would seek to block Gibraltar from participating in talks over future deals between the UK and EU.[21]

In April 2017, British Prime Minister Theresa May reiterated that "the UK would seek the best possible deal for Gibraltar as the UK exits the EU, and there would be no negotiation on the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of its people.” [22]

In April 2018, Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis announced that Spain hoped to sign off a bilateral agreement with Britain over Gibraltar before October so as not to hinder a Brexit transition deal. Talks between London and Madrid had progressed well. While reiterating the Spanish long-term aim of "recovering" Gibraltar, he said that Spain would not hold Gibraltar as a "hostage" to the EU negotiations.[23]

Questions were raised over the future of free-flowing traffic at the Gibraltar–Spain border.[24]

Gibraltar, like the UK, is outside the Schengen Area. All people crossing the border to/from Spain have therefore always been required to go through British and Spanish border controls. 10,000 people living in La Línea, in Spain, cross the border every day to work in Gibraltar. La Línea has an unemployment rate of 35% whereas Gibraltar has a 1% unemployment rate.[25]

Gibraltar was never part of the EU's customs union, so there are already more detailed checks on goods moving over the Spanish-Gibraltar border.[26]

A Spanish diplomat has indicated that any agreement on airline landing rights for flights between the EU and the UK agreed during Brexit negotiations would not apply to the Gibraltar International Airport.[27] However as of 2018-2019 all flights at the airport are to and from the UK or Morocco (not affected by Brexit), and none to the EU. As an alternative, Malaga Airport (distance 125 kilometres (78 mi)) has many EU flights.

Anticipating a loss of access to EU market as a result of Brexit, the Government of Gibraltar received "a firm commitment from the United Kingdom government to maintain and broaden access to their financial markets," including "automatic access to the United Kingdom in banking, insurance, investment services and any other similar area where cross-border directives currently apply".[28]