The negotiators from the European Union and the United Kingdom, who are shaping the future relationship of Gibraltar with the Twenty-Seven, will reconvene this Thursday in Brussels to push the political process forward at the highest level. Attending will be Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice president in charge of the file, along with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares, and Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo.
Officials have described the gathering as a continuation of talks, held in the same format as the session on April 12. On that occasion, Šefčovič, Cameron, Albares, and Picardo met in the European capital to unlock negotiations that have stretched over two and a half years and produced 18 negotiating rounds without a definitive breakthrough.
Diplomatic sources have also confirmed Albares’s travel and suggest that the goal of this second meeting is to advance the guiding principles of an agreement. The aim is to deliver prosperity, confidence, legal certainty, and stability to the residents of the Campo de Gibraltar.
In the joint statement issued by Šefčovič and Cameron after the April meeting, both officials noted meaningful progress in the talks and in the agreement on the guiding lines that cover issues such as the airport, goods, and mobility.