Agreements

Brexit > Current Situation > Withdrawal Agreement > Gibraltar > Agreements

Besides the Protocol on Gibraltar, Spain has drawn up a package of bilateral agreements with the United Kingdom on Gibraltar that consists of four memoranda of understanding (MoU) on people's rights, tobacco, the environment, and police and customs cooperation. These will soon be joined by an International Tax Agreement.

• MoU on people's rights. This will guarantee the rights of workers from Campo de Gibraltar, including their social benefits, which will be enjoyed under the same conditions as locals in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination. Inter-authority coordination and information exchange mechanisms will also exist in order to guarantee effective compliance. Furthermore, the British authorities have committed to reimbursing the Spanish Treasury for the difference in unemployment benefits paid out by Spain to cross-border employees.
• MoU on tobacco. This establishes market control obligations on the Gibraltarian market and tobacco product traceability measures, which must be in place by 2020 and which Spain will be able to oversee thanks to the establishment of coordination and information exchange measures. Furthermore, prior to the end of the transition period in June 2020, the Gibraltarian authorities must lower the price of tobacco products so that the difference in price with Spanish prices is no greater than 32% as a first step towards a complete price balance. All these measures are essential to the fight against the smuggling of this product and its illegal entry into Spain, with the corresponding consequences that has to security in the area and tax revenue.
• MoU on the environment. This establishes the principle of cooperation for ensuring the highest standards of protection throughout the area, with the result that this will have an impact on such issues as solid and liquid waste management, the control of fuel supply to ships and scientific research, including marine research using specific ships for that purpose.
• MoU on police and customs cooperation. This allows for the coordination systems in place between police authorities in the area to be strengthened so that the security situation can be improved and crime can be curbed in the region. Hence, collaboration on the investigation and persecution of a wide range of offences will be improved, especially those that mostly affect this area, including its waters, such as drug trafficking or the fight against people trafficking.

Under the International Tax Agreement, the United Kingdom has reached an agreement with Spain on certain tax residency criteria for individuals and businesses aimed at guaranteeing complete tax transparency in Gibraltar. This will support the fight against fraud, smuggling and money laundering, as well as prevent tax evasion in Spain.

These agreements will take effect from the moment at which the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU and will make a decisive contribution to balancing relations between Campo de Gibraltar and Gibraltar in the best interests of those living on both sides of the divide.