NewGibraltar seeks to hang onto EU benefits in UK Brexit deal
Territory at tip of Spain wants it both ways: Be part of the UK and the EU
Gibraltar is seeking a Brexit deal that preserves access to the European Union’s single market as well as the ability of thousands of workers to move freely across its land border with Spain, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said, seeking to protect the territory’s financial-services industry from what he describes as an “existential threat.”
“Gibraltar is saying we want access to the single market and we fully accept the free movement of people going forward,” Picardo said on Monday in an interview at the UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool, northern England. “Those are the essential ingredients.”
Picardo’s comments highlight the complexity of UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s task in pulling Britain out of the EU while limiting economic damage and appeasing voters who want to see curbs on immigration.
May has already indicated that no deal is possible without the ability to control the flow of people from the bloc’s 27 other members. And Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is ready to accept that Britain may have to give up single-market membership in any Brexit deal, officials familiar with his thinking have said.
While Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union in Britain’s referendum in June, the territory isn’t an integral part of the United Kingdom.
That means it already has a different relationship with the 27-nation bloc than the UK, giving it scope to preserve differences after Brexit happens. Gibraltar, for example, isn’t part of the European customs union, which allows the free movement of goods without tariffs, Picardo said.