The GSD says it will be meeting with its Party Executive to discuss the UK/EU Draft Agreement.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

The European Commission have now published the draft Agreement in respect of Gibraltar between the EU and the  UK. 

The GSD have not been consulted on the terms of the draft Agreement and still less been involved in its negotiation.  A copy of the settled text of the Agreement was first provided to the Opposition on 10 February 2026 on strict terms  of confidentiality until this was published as it now has been today. 

Those terms of confidentiality prevented GSD MPs from discussing the contents of the proposed Agreement with its  Party Executive. The Government has indicated it will move a Motion in Parliament next week on a vote seeking the  UK’s ratification of the Agreement. 

Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi said: “Before we received the confidential text on 10 February 2026 we had not seen a single page of this draft Agreement.  Now that this has been formally published and we are freed from the confidentiality terms I will call a meeting of the  Party Executive to discuss this Agreement, its implications and whether, in our view, it is a safe and beneficial  agreement for Gibraltar. Over the last few days GSD MPs have been considering the Agreement but we had so far not  been allowed to discuss this with the Executive. As I mentioned to the Chief Minister when we met on 10 February on  an issue as seminal as this we would wish to have a full discussion at the Executive before taking a formal position in  relation to the Agreement and on the coming Motion to Parliament.  

We had a 6-hour meeting of the Shadow Cabinet this Monday 23 February to discuss the Agreement and reach a view  of the recommendations we would make to the Executive once we were able to do so. I now look forward to briefing  the Executive on this important Agreement so that we can reach a concluded view at the Executive. 

Without trammelling on the important process before the Executive we provide this initial reaction to the Agreement.  It will be evident that these are a complex set of arrangements that will have deep and potentially long-lasting effects  on Gibraltar, the way we interact with the European Union and for our economy and governance. It is an Agreement  that provides greater personal freedoms of mobility in the EU for residents of Gibraltar in exchange for the cession of  powers, information and a number of economic levers to the EU and Spain. That includes powers to Spanish law  enforcement authorities in different guises. The potential or actual benefits in the Agreement have to be balanced  against the risks represented by the things that have been conceded in return, what that means socially, politically and  financially and placed alongside the prospect of a “no deal” scenario. Whether it delivers the desired certainty of a  stable future almost 10 years after the Brexit Referendum is also a central consideration. We will explain our view on  the Agreement in detail once the Executive has met to discuss this.”