EU and UK agree post-Brexit deal easing Gibraltar border flow

The UK, the EU, Spain and Gibraltar jointly announced on 11 June that they had agreed the core aspects of a future formal treaty between the EU and the UK in respect of Gibraltar. It involves removing the need for border checks between Spain and Gibraltar while enabling EU/Spanish checks at other entry points into Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory sitting at the entrance to the Mediterranean on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Its only land border is with Spain. Gibraltar left the EU along with the UK in January 2020, although Gibraltarians voted overwhelming to remain in the EU in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership.

At Spain’s insistence, Gibraltar was not covered by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which sets out arrangements for the UK and EU’s post-Brexit relationship. Since October 2021, there have since been 19 formal negotiation rounds as well as other talks. The agreement on the EU-Gibraltar relationship is therefore “the last piece of the EU exit jigsaw”.

Since the Brexit vote, the Gibraltar government has stressed the importance of maintaining an open ‘fluid’ border between Gibraltar and Spain given the importance to Gibraltar’s economy of around 15,000 frontier workers who reside in Spain but work in Gibraltar, which represents over half of Gibraltar’s workforce. It has also emphasised the importance of access to the EU single market for key sectors of its economy, notably services.

Interim measures have been in place since the UK left the EU. Spain has allowed Gibraltar residents to continue to cross the border without the passport stamping normally required to enter the EU/Schengen area, and Gibraltar has reciprocated for Spanish residents coming into Gibraltar.

All sides stressed the importance of reaching an agreement before the EU implements its new entry/exit system (EES). This is an automated border system involving biometric checks, which Spain would have been obliged to implement at the border with Gibraltar in the absence of different arrangements. The new EES had been scheduled to begin in November 2024, but was postponed. A phased-in launch is now scheduled from October 2025.

The new agreement will remove all checks and controls on people and goods circulating between Spain and Gibraltar and establish a customs union between Gibraltar and the EU. There will be two sets of checks for people arriving at Gibraltar airport and seaport: the Gibraltar authorities will continue to carry out their own checks and the Spanish authorities will carry out Schengen area checks on behalf of the EU.

The Schengen area is an area without internal border checks on the movement of people, comprising all EU member states except Ireland and Cyprus, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Membership of Schengen also requires the adoption of a broader legal framework covering cross-border police and judicial cooperation with EU institutional oversight.

Gibraltar will not join the Schengen area. Immigration, policing and justice in Gibraltar will remain the responsibility of the Gibraltar authorities. However, the EU regards the Schengen checks at arrival points into Gibraltar as necessary to ensure that anyone entering Gibraltar and then crossing into Spain complies with rules on staying in the Schengen area.

This means that time spent by UK nationals who are not residents of Gibraltar in Gibraltar will be counted as part of the time-limited allowance for short stays in the Schengen area. Citizens of countries outside the EU or Schengen area, including the UK, can only spend 90 days in the Schengen area in any 180-day period.

The new arrangements will involve close cooperation between the border, law enforcement and customs authorities of Gibraltar, Spain and the EU. Other areas covered by the agreement include taxation, the rights of frontier workers, and ensuring a “level playing field” between Gibraltar and Spain and the EU on issues including state aid, labour rules, social security, anti-money laundering, transport and the environment.
In the area of goods, the agreement includes the principles underpinning the future customs union between the EU and Gibraltar, providing for strong cooperation between the respective customs authorities and removing checks on goods. There is also agreement on the principles of indirect taxation to be applied in Gibraltar, including tobacco.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK and the EU had agreed a clause “explicitly protecting” UK sovereignty over Gibraltar. The June 2025 agreement guarantees full operational autonomy for the UK’s military facilities in Gibraltar, including Gibraltar airport, which hosts the Royal Air Force base and is managed by the Ministry of Defence. There is also provision for direct flights to EU destinations from Gibraltar.

Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo welcomed the agreement, stating that it would “bring legal certainty to the people of Gibraltar, its businesses and to those across the region who rely on stability at the frontier”.

The joint statement on the agreement said that the way was now clear for negotiating teams to finalise the full legal text. Although Spain and Gibraltar were fully involved in the negotiations, the formal agreement will be between the EU and the UK, which retains responsibility for Gibraltar’s external affairs. It will not come into force until it has been signed and ratified by the parties in line with their ‘internal procedures’.

Sovereign Trust (Gibraltar) Head of Business Development Ejaz Niazi said the agreement was a huge boost to investor confidence by providing long-term legal and regulatory certainty, easing the movement of people between Gibraltar and Spain, and offering the prospect of frictionless cross-border trade in goods and select services.

“The main objective of the future agreement is to secure the future prosperity of the whole region. By removing all checks and controls on people and goods circulating between Spain and Gibraltar, it will boost trade, cross-border employment and tourism,” said Niazi. “It will also strengthen Gibraltar’s status as a credible and well-regulated jurisdiction within Europe and will enhance the ability of Gibraltar-based financial services, gaming, insurance and fintech firms to serve EU clients.”