The Legal Status of Gibraltar after Brexit in Light of the Provisions of the Protocol on Gibraltar

Abstract

Gibraltar remains subject of an ongoing British-Spanish dispute over sovereignty. Nevertheless, membership of the United Kingdom in the EU stabilized the cross-border situation. Clearly, Brexit has threatened the established status quo. The legal status of Gibraltar is regulated in a special Protocol attached to the Withdrawal Agreement. It provides for deepened British-Spanish collaboration in the sectors of fishing, environmental protection, police and customs cooperation and the rights of citizens living in border areas (especially important for the Spanish region of Mancomunidad de Municipios del Campo de Gibraltar). However, compared to other Protocols, the arrangements for Gibraltar are extremely narrow. It was undecided to subject the peninsula in a greater extent to EU law than the rest of the United Kingdom. It is likely that these shortcomings will be regulated by a future EU-British Agreement governing the status of Gibraltar.