UK–EU Agreement on Gibraltar: Draft text and next steps

The UK Government and the EU published the draft text of a UK–EU agreement in respect of Gibraltar on 26 February 2026. The text was finalised in December, after four years of negotiations between the UK and EU.

The agreement covers measures to ensure the free circulation of people and goods between Gibraltar and the EU, and therefore remove physical barriers on the border between Gibraltar and Spain. This will involve EU Schengen area rules relating to border checks being applied in Gibraltar, and a customs union being established between the EU and Gibraltar.

The UK and the EU are expected to provisionally apply the Gibraltar agreement from 15 July 2026.

British sovereignty over Gibraltar

In his statement to the House of Commons on the agreement on 26 February 2026, Europe Minister, Stephen Doughty, said that Gibraltar was not, however, joining the Schengen area, with immigration, policing and justice remaining the responsibility of the Gibraltar authorities. He also said that British sovereignty over Gibraltar, including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters “is fully upheld and explicitly protected” while UK military facilities and operations in Gibraltar “remain under full UK control”.

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 Gibraltar Government has obtained a set of legal opinions which it says confirms that the agreement makes no concessions of legal sovereignty to Spain, or any other entity, over Gibraltar.

The status of the UK’s military base in Gibraltar is not affected by the agreement. The UK Government’s announcement of the agreement said that the treaty “protects UK autonomy of key military facilities”. The agreement exempts UK military personnel and their family members from Schengen border rules that otherwise apply to UK citizens and other visitors entering Gibraltar. In his House of Commons statement on 26 February, Stephen Doughty said that “nothing, either now or in the future, will fetter our ability to operate unimpeded in the way that we, and indeed our allies, have done from the base”.

The Gibraltar government welcomed the agreement. The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, said that it “unequivocally protects our position on sovereignty, safeguards our economy and delivers the certainty our people and businesses need”. On 4 March, Gibraltar’s parliament unanimously supported a motion calling on the UK to ratify the agreement.

Background to the agreement and negotiations

Negotiations on the Gibraltar agreement began in October 2021 under the then Conservative government in the UK. Parameters for these negotiations were set by the proposed framework for an agreement on Gibraltar’s future relationship with the EU (PDF), finalised by the UK together with Gibraltar and by Spain in December 2020. The proposed framework included commitments for a future agreement to involve the application of Schengen rules in Gibraltar, oversight by Spain of Schengen checks, and a possible customs union between Gibraltar and the EU.

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 that 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 it took office in July 2024. In his statement on the draft agreement on 26 February 2026, Stephen Doughty said that the Gibraltar Government had been at the table at every stage of the negotiations.

Negotiations on the draft agreement were completed on 12 December 2025. This followed the announcement by the European Commission and the governments of the UK, Spain, and Gibraltar in June 2025 that a “conclusive political agreement” had been reached on the core aspects of the UK–EU agreement on Gibraltar.

For further details of the political agreement announcement see the Commons Library briefing UK–EU agreement on Gibraltar: What has been agreed?

Why was an agreement needed?

An agreement was needed because Gibraltar was not covered by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which sets out arrangements for the UK and EU’s post-Brexit relationship. Gibraltar is a 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. The Spanish Government had insisted that Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU should not be covered by the TCA and should be treated separately.

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 to Gibraltar’s economy of ‘frontier workers’ who reside in Spain but work in Gibraltar. There are over 15,000 frontier workers in Gibraltar, more than half of the territory’s workforce. Gibraltar’s Government also emphasised the importance of access to the EU single market for key sectors of its economy, notably services.

Ensuring free circulation of people and goods across the Gibraltar–Spain border was therefore a central objective of the Gibraltar Government in the negotiations with the EU. Interim measures have been in place in the meantime, with Spain allowing Gibraltar residents to continue to cross the border without the passport stamping normally required to enter the EU/Schengen area, and Gibraltar reciprocating for Spanish residents coming into Gibraltar.

All sides had stressed the importance of reaching an agreement on Gibraltar’s relationship with the EU before full implementation of the EU’s new entry/exit system (EES). This is an automated border system involving biometric checks, which Spain would need to implement at the border with Gibraltar if there were no agreement on different arrangements. The potential implementation of EES at the border was viewed as having a highly damaging impact on Gibraltar given the delays this would have caused to the thousands of frontier workers crossing the border each day. EES had been repeatedly delayed but was finally launched in October 2025, with implementation phased in over a six-month period. Although EU legislation required that EES be fully implemented by 10 April 2026, it was still not fully operational across all EU/Schengen area border crossings by this date.

In early April 2026, the EU said it was expected that the UK-EU agreement on Gibraltar would be provisionally applied from 15 July 2026 (see also section 5.1 below), and the Gibraltar Government said it had received assurances that EES would not apply to Gibraltar residents.

For further details on the negotiations, see the Commons Library briefing UK-EU negotiations on Gibraltar-EU relations

For further details on the EU Entry/Exit system, see the Commons Library briefing The EU Entry/Exit system and EU travel authorisation system

What’s in the draft agreement?

The agreement is 1,018 pages in total: the main text is 338 pages (336 articles), followed by 43 annexes, which include protocols to the agreement.

The main text is in seven parts:

1. Part One: Common and Institutional Provisions. This includes general principles and provisions setting out an institutional framework for the agreement.
2. Part Two: Circulation of Persons. This includes provisions relating to border checks, rules on entry to Gibraltar, and law enforcement and judicial cooperation.
3. Part Three: Economy and Trade. This includes provisions establishing a Gibraltar–EU customs union and provisions to ensure a level playing field in matters such as state aid, taxation, labour and environmental standards. It also includes chapters on aviation and transport.
4. Part Four: Frontier Workers. This sets out rules for equal treatment and employment rights for people travelling across the Spain–Gibraltar border to work.
5. Part Five: Financial Provisions. This sets up a joint UK–EU fund to promote economic development in Gibraltar and the bordering Spanish region.
6. Part Six: Dispute Settlement. This sets out procedures for dealing with disputes between the UK and the EU, including an independent arbitration mechanism and penalties for non-compliance.
7. Part Seven: Final Provisions. This covers entry into force, review and possible termination of the agreement.

The draft agreement has a contents table (pages 2 to 3) which sets out these seven parts, and the titles and chapters within them.

Part One: Common and Institutional Provisions.

Part One includes general provisions and provisions setting out an institutional framework for the agreement.

Article 2 states that the agreement is “without prejudice to”, and will not affect the legal positions of, the UK and Spain with regard to sovereignty and jurisdiction over Gibraltar “and shall not constitute the basis for any assertion or denial of sovereignty including in legal proceedings or otherwise”.

Article 7 sets out the general principle that all physical barriers between Spain and Gibraltar will be removed, based on an implementation plan contained in an administrative arrangement between the UK, in respect of Gibraltar, and Spain.

Article 22 establishes a ‘Cooperation Council’ comprising EU and UK representatives and supported by specialised committees, to oversee the agreement and take decisions in relation to it.

Article 19 requires Gibraltar to apply through equivalent measures in its domestic law a number of EU laws referred to in the agreement or listed in its annexes. Article 19 also provides that where the EU updates these laws or adopts a new EU law relating to the same subject matter, this legislation needs to be given effect in the UK’s domestic law in respect of Gibraltar. If this is not done within certain time limits, then the entire agreement will be terminated unless the Cooperation Council decides otherwise.

Part One also includes provisions setting out shared UK and EU values (in a similar way to the TCA) in areas such as democracy and the rule of law, support for international human rights treaties and the international criminal court, and for the fight against climate change. It also includes provisions on civil nuclear cooperation.

Part Two: Circulation of Persons.

Part Two includes provisions applying parts of the Schengen rulebook to enable people to circulate freely between Gibraltar and the EU and to remove checks on people crossing the border between Gibraltar and Spain. It also includes provisions relating to issuing of resident permits, and law enforcement and judicial cooperation.

Although Schengen rules will be applied at its external borders, Gibraltar will not become part of the Schengen area.

Article 25 establishes that the cooperation provided for in Part Two of the agreement is underpinned by democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, highlighting the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights and of “giving effect to the rights and freedoms in that Convention domestically”.

Article 29 provides for the establishment of joint border checks at Gibraltar port and airport (the two entry points to Gibraltar from outside the EU/Schengen area). People coming 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. In practice, the Gibraltar Government intends that people arriving at the port will be taken to the airport for these checks.

Spanish border officers will be able to refuse entry to Gibraltar to non-Gibraltar residents if they deem them not to be 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 will be calculated as part of the 90/180 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 be subject to the 90/180 day limit for stays within the EU/Schengen area, although in practice this may be difficult to enforce given the absence of checks on the border with Spain.

Gibraltar residents will also be exempt from the requirements of the EU entry/exit system and the forthcoming EU travel authorisation system (Article 42).

UK military personnel and their family members will be exempt from Schengen border checks and passport and visa regulations that otherwise apply under the agreement if they enter and remain in Gibraltar (Article 38).

Part Two includes provisions for the issuing of short-stay visas and residence permits in Gibraltar. 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 public health or security reasons (Article 50). Spain will be responsible for issuing short-stay visas for Gibraltar, in accordance with Schengen rules, even if the main purpose is to stay in Gibraltar as this would give the holder access to the Schengen area. The UK/Gibraltar will be able to object to the issuing of a short-stay visa, in which case Spain can issue a visa valid for the Schengen area which does not entitle the holder to enter and stay in Gibraltar (Article 47).

The UK/Gibraltar authorities will remain responsible for considering asylum claims made in Gibraltar but will need to inform the Spanish authorities of the application and consider information or objections from the Spanish authorities. Standards for processing the application should be equivalent to those applicable in the EU (Article 53).

Part Two (Title V) includes detailed provisions on law enforcement and judicial cooperation that are similar to the UK–EU cooperation set out in the TCA. The Gibraltar agreement goes beyond the TCA (in Title III of Part Two) in providing for “uninterrupted pursuit” into Gibraltar by Spanish officials who are following someone suspected of certain crimes, and for UK/Gibraltar officers pursuing a suspect from Gibraltar into Spain (Article 56).

Part Two (Title VI) includes provisions on cooperation on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, ensuring that standards in Gibraltar are equivalent to those in the EU.

Part Three: Economy and Trade

Part Three establishes a Gibraltar–EU customs union, and 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 for the removal of physical barriers on the movement of goods between Spain and Gibraltar. Goods to be 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 not introduce VAT, but it will levy its own transaction tax and excise duties after a transition period.

There are specific provisions in the agreement relating to the transfer of military technology and equipment and dual use goods to Gibraltar (Article 261).

Part Three also includes a title on transport, with chapters on aviation, road transport and maritime transport.

The aviation chapter provides for direct flights between Gibraltar and airports in the EU. It also provides for the establishment of a joint venture to manage Gibraltar airport under the shared responsibility of Gibraltar and Spain. The joint venture will be constituted in an EU member state (but not Spain) and will select a commercial company to manage the airport through a public tender (Article 274).

The RAF base, located at the same airfield as Gibraltar airport, is not in scope of the agreement.

The chapter on road transport allows for the transport of goods between Gibraltar and the EU, though within the EU this should be limited to the “contiguous” frontier zone (Article 276).

The chapter on maritime transport requires the EU and the UK/Gibraltar to provide equal access to their ports and port facilities of ships flying the flag of each other (the UK/Gibraltar and the EU member states).

Part Four: Frontier Workers

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. The provisions in Part Four provide for non-discrimination, rights to seek employment and equal treatment in employment in Spain and Gibraltar for frontier workers. Family members of frontier workers are also guaranteed equal treatment in certain areas. 'Posted workers (workers temporarily posted by an employer from one territory to the other) also receive equal treatment rights.

A separate protocol to the agreement on social security coordination (annex 31) applies to workers covered by Part Four, enabling coordination of contributions, entitlements and benefits.

Part Five: Financial Provisions

Part Five consists of a single article (Article 299) and establishes a financial mechanism which both the UK and the EU will provide funding for, in order to promote economic cohesion between Gibraltar and the neighbouring Spanish region (“the contiguous frontier zone”), known as the “Campo de Gibraltar”.

Part Six: Dispute Settlement

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. An arbitration panel would be composed of three independent arbitrators.

The dispute settlement mechanism differs from that of the TCA and more closely resembles the Withdrawal Agreement in that there is a role in the arbitration process for the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in interpreting questions of EU law. Where a dispute raises a question of the interpretation of EU law, the arbitration panel must refer this question to the CJEU and the CJEU’s ruling on this matter will be binding on the panel. The CJEU does not have a role in the arbitration process in the TCA dispute mechanism, but it does have a role in interpreting questions of EU law in this way in the Withdrawal Agreement.

The arbitration panel may make a ruling finding the UK or EU in breach of the agreement and requesting 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.

Part Seven: Final Provisions

The Part Seven final provisions include provisions on review, entry into force, and termination of the agreement.

The agreement can be implemented provisionally, provided both the UK and EU agree, ahead of formal ratification. However, the implementation plan for the removal of physical barriers referred to in Article 7, and administrative arrangements to implement some other aspects of the agreement, must be in place before provisional application can take effect (Article 336).

The agreement will be jointly reviewed by the UK and the EU four years after its entry into force, and regularly thereafter (Article 330). 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).

Separately to the termination provision in Article 334, other provisions in the agreement set out grounds for termination. As noted above, Article 19 provides for automatic termination where a relevant EU act is not implemented by Gibraltar, unless the Cooperation Council decides otherwise.

Article 66 provides for the termination of the agreement following the completion of an evaluation of the Part Two provisions by either the UK or the EU, with the EU obliged to terminate the agreement if requested by Spain.

What happens next? Final version of agreement

In his statement to the House of Commons on 26 February, the Minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty, said the UK Government was continuing to work closely with the governments of Gibraltar, the EU and Spain in moving towards signature and implementation of the agreement, and expected to lay the final text of the agreement in Parliament in March 2026.

However, in evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 20 Apr 2026 (Q37-38) Mr Doughty said he envisaged the agreement being finalised around the time of the EU General Affairs Council (usually attended by ministers for European affairs of the Member States) meetings of either 16 June or 10 July 2026 and presented to parliament some time after that. He said the delay in presentation of the final text was “down to EU processes and some slight uncertainties”. In a separate evidence session on the same day, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said the delay in finalising the text related to the need for it to be translated into all EU languages (Q17).

On 1 April 2026, a Council of the EU press release said the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper), which is made of up Member States’ ambassadors to the EU and prepares the work of the Council (Member State ministers), had agreed the texts of the agreement and decisions on signature and provisional application of the agreement. The Council of the EU press release said the texts would be formally adopted as soon as checks by its lawyer-linguists were concluded.

This followed the European Commission’s adoption of proposals for the signing, provisional application and conclusion of the Gibraltar agreement on 17 February 2026, which were then submitted to the Council of the EU for a formal decision.

Provisional application and ratification of the agreement

As noted in section 4.7 above, the agreement itself provides for its provisional application ahead of ratification if the UK and EU agree to proceed in this way, and provided implementation plans and arrangements for aspects of the agreement are in place (Article 336).

The Council of EU press release on 1 April 2026 said the agreement will be provisionally applied from 15 July 2026.

The EU procedure for conclusion of international agreements requires the consent of the European Parliament and a decision by the Council before formal ratification.

UK ratification of the agreement will not be able to take place until a procedure for parliamentary scrutiny set out under the Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRAG) Act 2010 has been followed (see section 5.5 below).

Legislation in the Gibraltar Parliament

The UK uses provisional application of international treaties on an exceptional basis, and this requires that the passage of any domestic legislation to implement a treaty has been completed first. Domestic legislation at the UK level is not required to implement the Gibraltar agreement. However, the Gibraltar Parliament needed to enact legislation to implement the agreement. Gibraltar is a self-governing territory in relation to domestic policy matters under the Gibraltar Constitution Order 2006.

A motion calling on the draft treaty to be ratified was presented by Chief Minister Picardo to the Gibraltar Parliament (PDF) on 3 March 2026. The resolution was passed unanimously.

The legislation needed to implement the agreement, The Treaty on Gibraltar and the European Union Bill 2026 (PDF), was introduced to the Gibraltar Parliament on 30 March 2026 and adopted on 31 March 2026.

Implementation of agreement

Following publication of the draft agreement, Chief Minister Picardo said the UK and Gibraltar governments were working on a concordat (PDF) on how they will work together to implement the agreement. This will cover issues including the role of Gibraltar representatives in bodies established by the agreement and giving Gibraltar the right to request that the UK terminate the agreement if necessary, or to apply a brake if the UK Government wishes to terminate it.

In evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 20 Apr 2026 the Chief Minister said work was ongoing on the concordat, with a few points to be finalised (Q21).

Appearing alongside Stephen Doughty at the Foreign Affairs Committee evidence session on 20 April 2026, the director of EU and Gibraltar at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Hazel Cameron, said the UK and Spanish governments were negotiating and had “virtually concluded” a set of administrative arrangements between them. These would govern some of the practical elements of the co-operation in the agreement, including on goods and customs. These would also need to be in place in order to provisionally apply the agreement (Q33).

Scrutiny in the UK Parliament

In publishing the draft agreement, the UK Government included a note (PDF) explaining that it had been published to give all parliaments the opportunity to examine it on the same timeline while legal teams complete the final legal review and translation of the text.

The government said that in the UK, the final version of the agreement will be laid before Parliament for scrutiny before ratification in accordance with the Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRAG) Act 2010. Under the CRAG Act, the Government cannot ratify a treaty unless it has first laid the signed treaty before Parliament (along with an explanatory memorandum) for 21 sitting days.

Under the CRAG Act, if, during the 21 sitting days, the House of Commons passes a resolution that the treaty should not be ratified, another 21-sitting-day delay to ratification is triggered. This process may be repeated continuously. No such resolution not to ratify a treaty has ever been passed by the House of Commons. A House of Lords resolution against ratification does not delay ratification.

Given the CRAG timelines, UK ratification of the agreement prior to 10 April 2026 (the date of full implementation of EES, previously viewed also as a deadline for implementing the agreement) was viewed as unfeasible. This increased the likelihood of provisional application of the agreement ahead of or on this date. However, as noted above, the EU later said the provisional application of the agreement would take place on 15 July 2026 and it was also confirmed that EES would not be applied to Gibraltar residents at the border in the meantime.

The Minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty, said in evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 20 Apr 2026 (Q37-38) the final text of the agreement would be presented to parliament “in the usual way” once the final version of the agreement had been approved. As noted above, he said this would be likely to be after the EU General Affairs Council meetings of either 16 June or 10 July 2026.

For further information on the CRAG process and parliamentary scrutiny of treaties post-Brexit, see the Commons Library briefings How Parliament treats treaties and Treaty-making and parliamentary scrutiny: recent developments.

Further reading UK–EU Agreement on Gibraltar

For text of the draft agreement and a UK Government summary, see the UK Government’s Draft UK–EU Agreement in respect of Gibraltar

For the European Commission’s explanatory memorandum on the agreement and proposal for a decision of the Council of EU on signing and provisional application of agreement, see the European Commission’s Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing and provisional application of the Agreement in respect of Gibraltar between the EU and UK (PDF) (February 2026).

For the UK Government’s announcement of the agreement, see the press release Draft Treaty published to secure Gibraltar’s economic future and protect British sovereignty (26 February 2026).

For a UK ministerial statement in the House of Commons on the Gibraltar Agreement, see HC Deb 26 February 2026 Volume 781.

The Europe Minister, Stephen Doughty, and the Gibraltar Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, provided further information on the agreement and next steps in relation to implementation in evidence sessions with the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on 20 April 2026: Foreign Affairs Committee, Oral evidence: UK/EU Treaty on Gibraltar, HC 1838, 20 April 2026.

Gibraltar Government statements and parliament proceedings

For statements by the Gibraltar First Minister and Gibraltar Government on the agreement, see:

• Government of Gibraltar, Chief Minister’s Statement on the Publication of the Draft Agreement in Respect of Gibraltar, 26 February 2026
• Government of Gibraltar, Motion on Support for the UK-EU Treaty on Gibraltar - Chief Minister’s Parliamentary Speech (Transcript) (PDF), 4 March 2026
• Government of Gibraltar, Legal Opinions Confirm: No Sovereignty Concessions, 1 March 2026

For the legal opinions obtained by the Gibraltar Government on the effect on Gibraltar’s sovereignty, see Gibraltar Parliament, Meeting of Parliament, 4 March 2026 (under ‘Papers Laid’).

For the Gibraltar legislation needed to implement the agreement, see the Treaty on Gibraltar and the European Union Bill 2026 (PDF). See also the details of the sittings of the Gibraltar Parliament on 30 March and 31 March 2026 and the Chief Minister’s speaking note for the Bill.

Background on UK–EU negotiations on Gibraltar

• Commons Library briefing, UK-EU negotiations on Gibraltar-EU relations, November 2024
• Commons Library briefing, UK–EU agreement on Gibraltar: What has been agreed? (covering the statement on political agreement in June 2025)

For an overview of Gibraltar’s constitutional status and potential impacts following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, see the Commons Library briefing, Brexit and Gibraltar (May 2017)

For further details on the EU Entry/Exit system, see the Commons Library briefing The EU Entry/Exit system and EU travel authorisation system

UK ratification and parliamentary scrutiny of international treaties

• Commons Library briefing, How Parliament treats treaties
• Commons Library briefing, Treaty-making and parliamentary scrutiny: recent developments
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Treaties and MOUs: Guidance on Practice and Procedures, updated August 2025