EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton Excerpts

Friday 8th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I will focus on the two land borders that we now have with the EU through our overseas territories in Gibraltar and the often forgotten sovereign base areas in Cyprus. Both territories have enormous political and military strategic importance to the United Kingdom. I pay tribute to Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar. Having worked with him extensively as Minister for the Armed Forces throughout Brexit planning, I saw first-hand how his pragmatic leadership has done so much to reassure Gibraltarians and help to secure the temporary arrangement between the UK and Spain announced on New Year’s Eve.

The challenges of a hard border and a no-deal Brexit would have been particularly acute and worrying for Gibraltar, not least because the shortage of land means that even routine tasks such as disposing of waste would be a challenge. As we know, the initial four-year agreement allows Gibraltar to join the Schengen zone but results in Gibraltar’s port and airport becoming the external borders of the Schengen area, with Europe’s border agency, Frontex, present in Gibraltar. Already we are seeing Spain, as the sponsoring state, trying to leverage greater control. In an interview published on Saturday by Spanish newspaper El País, Foreign Minister Laya said that

“to be able to enter a Gibraltar which is integrated into the Schengen area, the responsibility for border controls will be in Spanish hands at the port and the airport”,

implying that Spain will decide who will or will not enter Gibraltar. Can the Minister confirm that this will not be the case?

In stark contrast to the political noise around the main talks in Brussels, low-key negotiations surrounding the sovereign base areas of Cyprus have resulted in a pragmatic and sensible way forward that honours previous treaties. The status of the SBAs under EU law was exceptional, in so much as the SBAs had a constitutional relationship with one member state, the UK, while sharing their boundaries with another. From the very start there has been an understanding that there should be an agreement that would secure the continuity of this exceptional regime. This wish has been reflected in the protocol on the SBAs attached to the UK’s withdrawal agreement, and I for one would like to place my thanks on record to those who have achieved it.