Britons could be locked out of Gibraltar under a new post-Brexit treaty with the EU, Lord Cameron admitted to MPs on Monday.
The Foreign Secretary said that under the terms of a deal currently being negotiated between the UK and the EU, officials from the EU border agency Frontex would be stationed at the airport, rather than at the border. Spanish.
The talks aim to remove identity checks for people crossing the border between Gibraltar and Spain.
But Lord Cameron admitted this could mean Britons arriving at Gibraltar airport are effectively treated as if they were entering the EU.
The agreement would maintain the Schengen principle of freedom of movement on the European continent and thus allow anyone in Gibraltar to travel to the rest of Europe without obstacles.
All Schengen border checks would take place on British soil, with the possibility that Brits would be denied entry to Gibraltar as a result.
The Foreign Secretary said that under the terms of a deal currently being negotiated between the UK and the EU, officials from the EU border agency Frontex would be stationed at the airport, rather than at the Spanish border.
Lord Cameron admitted this could mean Britons arriving at Gibraltar airport are effectively treated as if they were entering the EU.
New rules for arrivals from non-member countries that the EU introduced across the bloc in October mean Britons returning to Gibraltar or traveling there for work could be forced to undergo additional biometric checks, providing fingerprints and a Photography.
They could also be blocked for visa reasons if they have already spent more than 90 of the last 180 days in the EU, the limit at which a visa is required to stay in the EU.
Responding to MPs’ concerns, Lord Cameron admitted there would be two sets of checks on Britons arriving in Gibraltar, which could lead to them being refused entry even if Gibraltarian officials had allowed them through.
He said: “In the future there will be two sets of checks, one by Gibraltar and one by Schengen, and if there was a Schengen alert that could be the circumstance.”
He continued: ‘We do not want to see anything that in any way diminishes the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over Gibraltar. “There are some very clear lines that we cannot cross.”
He also claimed that EU officials would have no control over the airport under the plans.
In a letter to Foreign Office minister David Rutley, committee chairman Sir Bill Cash previously wrote: “If it is agreed as you have indicated to us, to allow the current Schengen checks to be administered by border guards ( of the EU) Frontex at the airport would erode the sovereignty of the United Kingdom to the extreme. point of meaninglessness.
‘From their evidence, we suspect that the UK Government is prepared to accept a deal that will leave the Gibraltar border British in all but name.
‘The practical implications of this are seismic. He could not assure us that UK nationals and Gibraltarians, who only wished to enter Gibraltar, would not have to undergo Schengen checks.’