The European Union and the U.K. have reached an agreement to ease cross-border trade and travel in Gibraltar after years of post-Brexit wrangling over the contested territory, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said Wednesday.
In a post on social media, Šefčovič praised the deal as “a truly historic milestone: an EU-UK political agreement on the future relationship concerning Gibraltar. This benefits everyone and reinforces a new chapter in the relationship.”
Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. Talks on a deal to ensure people and goods can keep flowing over the Gibraltar-Spain border previously had made only halting progress.
In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the EU. The tiny territory on Spain’s southern tip depends greatly on access to the EU market for its 34,000 inhabitants.
