ARCHIVED - Tension grows as Spain threatens to pull the plug on Brexit deal

Demands over Gibraltar could lead to a stalemate at the weekend summit in Brussels

As the weekend’s crucial Brexit meeting looms it appears more and more likely that the UK parliament may not even be called upon to ratify or reject the agreement reached in Brussels, with the growing possibility that other EU members, among them Spain, threatening to throw the document out if extra demands are not met.

It is reported that Angela Merkel and the German government are becoming increasingly frustrated by the objections being raised by other national governments, and have considered pulling the plug on the whole meeting, as Poland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Denmark all join Spain in stipulating extra concessions before they allow the acceptance of the document.

In the case of France, Belgium and the Netherlands are requesting clear statements to the effect that they will have greater access to British fishing waters after Brexit, but in Spain, as has been forecast by some ever since the Brexit referendum, the government is using the negotiations as a lever to exert greater control over Gibraltar. This should come as no surprise – the Minister for Foreign Affairs stated openly that this was his policy in September – and it has now been confirmed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that as things stand there is a very real chance that Spain will not approve the deal on Sunday.

On Wednesday evening, prior to a lightning trip to Cuba, Sr Sánchez said that a clause in the withdrawal agreement giving the Rock the same benefits as the UK was not acceptable, adding “we are conscious that this is an essential point and if this is not resolved then unfortunately Spain will unfortunately not be able to vote in favour of it.”

He later tweeted to the effect that “we are a pro-European government, but we cannot accept a Brexit agreement which questions the ability of Spain to negotiate the future of Gibraltar with the United Kingdom”.

Before his departure for the Caribbean, Pedro Sánchez is also reported to have held a long telephone conversation with Theresa May, but if any progress was made towards the resolution of the issue it has not been made public.

So, while Donald Tusk reported on Thursday morning that a revised version of the draft Political Declaration on the Future Relationship between EU and UK had been “agreed at negotiators’ level and agreed in principle at political level”, it is important to note that he still recognizes that the document is “subject to the endorsement of the Leaders”. And in the case of Spain, the Leader has shown so far shown himself to be determined to secure assurances that Spain and Spain alone will be in a position to negotiate with the UK on the future status of Gibraltar.

Image: Pedro Sánchez speaking at a Hispano-Portuguese summit on Wednesday

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