El País: Spain Wants Special Brexit Chapter

Any Brexit deal requires approval of the European Parliament and a supermajority of EU members, many of which hold messy concerns. For example, Spain is striving for an agreement related to taxes, labor and pollution concerns, and smuggling in Gibraltar. The territory in Southern Spain, under British control since 1713, has 30,000 residents and more than 50,000 registered businesses, so Spain hopes to prevent tax avoidance. “The Brexit negotiation guidelines drafted by Brussels in March 2017 awarded Spain power over whether Gibraltar may benefit from any advantages of the future relationship between the UK and the EU,” reports Lucía Abellán for El País. “A clause in that document states that once the UK leaves the bloc, ‘no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom.’” Special agreements are also expected for Northern Ireland and British bases in Cyprus. – YaleGlobal