UK-EU agreement in respect of Gibraltar

The UK-EU agreement in respect of Gibraltar was published and signed on 14 July 2026. It covers measures to ensure the free circulation of people and goods between Gibraltar and the EU and therefore enable physical barriers on the Gibraltar-Spain border to be removed. EU Schengen area rules relating to border checks will be applied in Gibraltar, and a customs union will be established between the EU and Gibraltar. Gibraltar is not, however, formally joining the Schengen area.

Background: Gibraltar and Brexit

Since the UK’s vote to leave the EU, Gibraltar’s Government has stressed the importance of maintaining an open “fluid” border between Gibraltar and Spain, given the importance of ‘frontier workers’, who reside in Spain but work in Gibraltar, to Gibraltar’s economy. There are over 15,000 frontier workers in Gibraltar, more than half of the territory’s workforce.

Since the end of the Brexit transition period, reciprocal interim measures on the Spain-Gibraltar border to minimise checks had been in place. However, these were due to end in April 2026 following the introduction of the EU’s new automated border entry/exit system (EES).

Gibraltar is a self-governing British Overseas Territory that left the EU along with the UK in January 2020, although Gibraltarians had voted overwhelming to remain in the EU in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership. Spain maintains a sovereignty claim over Gibraltar. At the insistence of the Spanish Government, Gibraltar was not covered by the UK’s post-Brexit treaty with the EU, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

Negotiations leading to the agreement

Negotiations on the Gibraltar agreement began in October 2021 under the Conservative government in the UK. The UK, Gibraltar and Spain set parameters for these negotiations in the proposed framework for an agreement on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU (PDF), finalised in December 2020.

Although the negotiations were formally between the UK and the EU, the governments of Gibraltar and Spain were closely involved. The UK and Gibraltar adopted a joint approach to the negotiations, with the UK Government stressing it would not agree to arrangements that passed sovereignty over Gibraltar to another state, or that Gibraltar was not content with. The Labour government reiterated this stance after taking office in 2024.

Following announcement of a “conclusive political agreement” on core aspects of the future agreement in June 2025, the text of a draft agreement was published on 26 February 2026. After a process of legal and linguistic revisions of the text, the final version was published on 14 July 2026.

Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said following publication of the draft agreement in February 2026 that it “unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need”. He responded to criticisms of the agreement from some UK Members of Parliament by emphasising the benefits to Gibraltar of “fluid movement” across the border and referred to safeguards over sovereignty and limits on the operations of Spanish authorities in Gibraltar. He has also emphasised the continuity in the UK’s negotiating positions under the previous Conservative and current Labour government.

British sovereignty and the military base

In his statement to the House of Commons, when a draft version of the agreement was published on 26 February 2026, then Minister for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty, said that British sovereignty over Gibraltar, including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters “is fully upheld and explicitly protected”.

The agreement includes a clause stating that it is “without prejudice” to the positions of the UK and Spain regarding sovereignty over Gibraltar and will not constitute the basis of any claims regarding sovereignty (Article 2).

The UK Government said that the treaty “protects UK autonomy of key military facilities”. In his statement on 26 February, Stephen Doughty said that “nothing, either now or in the future, will fetter our ability to operate unimpeded” from the military base”.

The agreement exempts UK military personnel and family members from Schengen border rules that would otherwise apply when entering Gibraltar and allows UK military equipment and goods to enter Gibraltar by sea or air without the need for authorisation by Spain. The UK Government explanatory memorandum on the agreement states that the RAF base, located at the same airfield as Gibraltar airport, is not in scope of the agreement.

What’s in the agreement? Common and Institutional Provisions

Part One of the agreement sets out general principles and a governance framework, including a joint UK-EU Cooperation Council and specialised committees to oversee implementation.

Article 19 requires Gibraltar to apply a number of EU laws in its domestic law, referred to in the agreement or listed in its annexes. It also provides that where the EU updates these laws or adopts new EU law relating to them, this legislation needs to be given effect in Gibraltar.

If Gibraltar does not apply a relevant EU act, then the entire agreement will be terminated unless the Cooperation Council decides otherwise.

Circulation of Persons and Schengen rules

Part Two applies parts of the Schengen area rulebook to Gibraltar to enable people to circulate freely between Gibraltar and the EU and to remove checks on the border between Gibraltar and Spain. It also sets out detailed provisions on law enforcement and judicial cooperation similar to the UK–EU cooperation set out in the TCA. Cooperation is underpinned by human rights principles, which involve a commitment for the UK/Gibraltar and the EU to continue to apply the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 25).

The agreement establishes joint border checks for arrivals at Gibraltar port and airport (the two entry points to Gibraltar from outside the EU/Schengen area). People arriving at these entry points will be subject to Gibraltar entry controls by the UK/Gibraltar authorities, and then to Schengen area entry controls by Spanish border authorities.

Spanish border officers will be able to refuse entry to Gibraltar to non-Gibraltar residents if they deem them not in compliance with Schengen area rules. This includes compliance with the Schengen area limit on short stays of a total of 90 days in a rolling 180-day period. Time spent by non-EU/non-Schengen area citizens in Gibraltar (including UK citizens not resident in Gibraltar) will be calculated as part of the 90/180-day allowance.

Spanish borders officers will not be able to refuse Gibraltar residents entry to Gibraltar, and their time spent in Gibraltar will not count towards the 90/180-day allowance. Gibraltar residents will also be exempt from the requirements of EES and the forthcoming EU travel authorisation system.

Gibraltar authorities will remain responsible for issuing Gibraltar residence permits, but Spain will be able to block residence permits being issued on certain grounds, including for security reasons. Spain will be responsible for issuing short-stay visas for Gibraltar, in accordance with Schengen rules.

Economy and Trade

Part Three establishes a Gibraltar–EU customs union and sets out provisions to ensure a level playing field with “open and fair competition” in matters such as state aid, taxation, labour and social standards, and environment and climate. The level playing field provisions are similar to those in the TCA.

The Gibraltar–EU customs union, and application of a large body of EU customs law and product rules, will allow physical barriers on the movement of goods to be removed between Spain and Gibraltar. Goods imported into Gibraltar from outside the EU will first go through customs checks in Spain or Portugal. Gibraltar’s indirect taxation system will be aligned with the EU. Gibraltar will levy its own transaction tax and excise duties after a transition period.

Part Three also includes provisions on transport, including aviation, road transport and maritime transport. The aviation chapter sets out air traffic rights for direct flights between Gibraltar and the UK and Gibraltar and airports in the EU. It also provides for the establishment of a joint venture by Gibraltar and Spain to manage Gibraltar airport.

Part Four sets out rights for frontier workers, defined as UK citizens resident in Gibraltar and employed in Spain, and EU citizens resident in Spain and employed in Gibraltar. These include rights to seek employment and equal treatment in employment in Spain and Gibraltar for frontier workers.

Part Five establishes a joint UK-EU funding mechanism to promote economic cohesion between Gibraltar and the neighbouring Spanish region, known as the “Campo de Gibraltar”.

Dispute Settlement and Final Provisions

Part Six establishes a dispute settlement mechanism, which is similar to that established under the TCA and the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, involving consultations if either the UK or the EU believes the other is in breach of the agreement, and an arbitration mechanism if consultation does not resolve a dispute. Similarly to the Withdrawal Agreement, where a dispute raises a question of the interpretation of EU law, the arbitration panel must refer this question to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the CJEU’s ruling on this matter will be binding.

The arbitration panel may find the UK or EU in breach of the agreement and request that they take measures to remedy this. If they do not do this within a set time period, the UK or EU can agree compensation or the complainant (the party that took the complaint to arbitration) can suspend relevant obligations under the agreement.

The Part Seven final provisions include provisions on regular review of the agreement and termination of the agreement. It can be terminated by either the UK or the EU by written notification, with termination taking effect 12 months after the notification (Article 334).

Implementation of the agreement

Gibraltar is responsible for domestic implementation of the agreement. The legislation needed to implement the agreement (PDF) was adopted by the Gibraltar Parliament on 31 March 2026. Domestic legislation was not required in the UK to implement it.

The UK and EU agreed to apply the agreement provisionally from 15 July 2026 to ensure the new border arrangements were in place as soon as possible. Provisional application was possible under Article 336 of the treaty but requires that various implementation plans and administrative arrangements referred to in the agreement be in effect first. The relevant plans and arrangements were published on 14 July 2026.

A concordat between the UK and Gibraltar Governments concerning the implementation of the agreement was also published on 14 July. The concordat sets out the responsibilities of each government in implementing the agreement, with the UK Government undertaking not to adopt positions or make decisions in relation to the agreement without the consent of the Gibraltar Government except in “in the most exceptional circumstances”.

This includes in relation to any steps taken by the UK towards terminating the agreement. Under the concordat, this would normally require the support of at least three-quarters of the Members of the Gibraltar Parliament or the majority of voters in a referendum held in Gibraltar.

Scrutiny and ratification of the agreement

In publishing the draft agreement on 26 February 2026, the UK Government explained that it had been published to give all parliaments the opportunity to examine it on the same timeline while legal teams completed the final legal review and translation of the text.

The treaty was laid in the UK Parliament on 14 July 2026 for scrutiny under the Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRAG) Act 2010. Under the act, the government cannot ratify a treaty unless it has first laid the signed treaty before Parliament for 21 sitting days. If, during the 21 sitting days after the treaty is laid, the House of Commons passes a resolution that the treaty should not be ratified, this triggers another 21-sitting-day delay to ratification. This process may be repeated continuously. No such resolution not to ratify a treaty has ever been passed by the House of Commons.

The first 21-day objection period under the CRAG scrutiny procedure ends on 22 October 2026.

The EU procedure for concluding international agreements requires a consent vote in the European Parliament and a decision by the Council before formal ratification. The European Commission said on 14 July 2026 that the agreement had been submitted to the European Parliament for its consent. Once the Parliament’s consent is obtained, the Council can proceed to adopt its decision on concluding the agreement.