The Brussels Agreement, 1984, was an agreement between the governments of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

concerning the territorial dispute over

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. The agreement was criticised by Gibraltar politicians for limiting the participation of

Gibraltarians The Gibraltarians ( Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterrane ...

in their self-determination.

Background

The Lisbon Agreement, 1980, did not provide an immediate solution to the problems resulting from the blockade of Gibraltar that had been imposed by Francisco Franco in 1969. The border did not reopen as planned, and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

continued to disagree over the interpretation of the agreement. Spain's admittance to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the EEC provided the impetus that finally broke the deadlock in 1984.

Terms

The Brussels Agreement was concluded in November 1984 and implemented in February 1985. Aldrich & Connell, 1998, pp. 19. Spain's application to join the EEC proved to be the key factor since Britain linked Spain's membership with the opening of the frontier with

and threatened to veto the application otherwise. The Brussels Agreement clarified and reactivated the earlier Lisbon Agreement, which had been subject to widely-differing interpretations, complicated Anglo-Spanish relations and delayed the full opening of the border. Under the agreement, the United Kingdom and Spain would hold talks over Gibraltar, and the British were prepared to negotiate on sovereignty. The agreement was signed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Sir

Geoffrey Howe Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015) was a British Conservative politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. Howe was Margaret Thatch ...

, and the Spanish Foreign Minister,

Fernando Morán López Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

. These were key points of the Brussels agreement: * Provision of equality and reciprocity of rights for Spaniards in Gibraltar and Gibraltarians in Spain. * The establishment of the free movement of persons, vehicles and goods between Gibraltar and the neighbouring territory. * The establishment of a negotiating process aimed at overcoming all the differences between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar.

Criticism

The agreement was vocally criticised in Gibraltar Kellerman, 2001, pp. 19 since the Gibraltar government was invited to participate, but only as part of the United Kingdom's delegation.Joe Bossano, The Fight for Self-Determination, Speech to UN Decolonization Committee, 1994 Another major deficiency from Gibraltar's perspective was that it did not allow for the discussion of differences between Gibraltar and Spain. The agreement was also criticised by Gibraltar politicians as the Gibraltar delegation was expected to form part of

Aftermath

In the key 1988 elections, the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party called for self-determination, expressed its opposition to the negotiations over the sovereignty and future of Gibraltar between Spain and the United Kingdom and opposed any transfer of sovereignty to Spain. Gold, 2005, pp. 101. It also asked for the withdrawal of the negotiations on the Brussels Declaration and opposed the Airport Agreement. The GSLP got 8 seats and a 58.2% of the

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

* * *{{cite web , url = http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2002/rp02-037.pdf , title = Gibraltar's Constitutional Future , access-date = 2011-02-04 , last = Miller , first = Vaughne , date = 22 May 2002 , work = International Affairs & Defence Section , publisher = House of Commons Library , ref = Research_paper Politics of Gibraltar History of Gibraltar 1984 in Belgium Treaties concluded in 1984 Treaties entered into force in 1985 Treaties of Spain Treaties of the United Kingdom Gibraltar–Spain border Spain–United Kingdom relations 1985 in Gibraltar 1984 in Gibraltar Gibraltar and the European Union