Madrid / Brussels, 03/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué has announced that the Spanish and British prime ministers, José Maria Aznar and Tony Blair would try to progress in negotiations in London on 20 May between Spain and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar, that they would like to see end by the summer. Should we not reach agreement by then, relations between Madrid and London will suffer "seriously", Piqué warned in an speech before the Spanish Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee. In particular, according to AFP, Mr. Piqué would like to reach an agreement that does not involve Spain's renunciation of its claim of sovereignty, in the long-term, over Gibraltar. The British Minister of European Affairs, Peter Hain, recently stated that, for London, the agreement with Madrid would have to be definitive, that it should be ratified by the population of Gibraltar through a referendum and that the United Kingdom should retain control over the military installations in Gibraltar. Before Spanish MPs, Mr. Piqué said he regarded the British demands as being reasonable over the control of the air and naval base of Gibraltar.
Furthermore, according to EFE, the European Commissioner for the Budget, Michaele Schreyer said that in case of an Anglo-Spanish agreement over the future of the Rock, the Commission could include in its budget 2003 (but this is only a hypothesis, she is said to have stipulated) funding for projects in Gibraltar. You my recall that this concern projects relating to tourism, infrastructures and SMEs.