Those -which de facto suppose the recognition by Spain of the sovereignty of the Rock- leave the colony with one foot off the black list of the Treasury of tax havens. Despite the fact that the content of the document by the Foreign Minister, Arancha González Laya, has hardly been disclosed, everything indicates that, if there will be no fence, Gibraltar will no longer be a tax haven for the Spanish Government.
Most states do not consider the British colony an offshore location. . Gibraltar has transposed into its internal regulations Directive 2011/16/EU, regarding Administrative Cooperation in the field of Taxation, has also signed the Multilateral Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, and has implemented certain BEPS measures, the project International Organization of the OECD against the fiscal erosion of taxable bases. But in addition, it has implemented the new Global Standard for Automatic Exchange of Information approved by the OECD.
Will the arrival of this regime be what will end up removing the colony from the Treasury’s black list?
However, Spain keeps Gibraltar on its black list. Despite the fact that the government still considers the colony a tax haven, the new agreement with the British gives the Rock a confidence that goes so far as to abolish border controls. The little that is known about the agreement, explained by González Laya, is that it will maintain the application of the Schengen area under the supervision of Spain and with the help of Frontex in supervising the port and airport, which will allow “removal of controls between Gibraltar and Spain “. The minister, who has established the transition period at four years, has, however, avoided going into the “technical aspects”, which she leaves for the Congress of Deputies.
“Fair Tax Competition”
In addition to Schengen, the principle of agreement, which Spain estimates could materialize within a period of six months, will also allow a customs regime in the area of freight traffic and transport and incorporates fair competition measures in fiscal, environmental and social matters that will be detailed later. Is the arrival of this tax competition regime what will end up removing the colony from the Treasury’s black list? It is not known.
On March 4, 2019, Spain and the United Kingdom signed an international treaty with measures to end the use of Gibraltar for tax fraud and money laundering. It is not a traditional information exchange agreement, but rather contemplates other broader and more effective measures to combat tax fraud and money laundering. In addition, its content refers exclusively to relations of administrative cooperation and automatic exchange of information between Spain and Gibraltar, so that territory should be removed from Spain’s list of tax havens when it is updated. However, this agreement did not remove the country from the list.
Sovereignty, “for later”
“The debate on sovereignty remains for later,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She insisted that Spain does not resign. “All this is done without prejudice to the inalienable claims” regarding the sovereignty of Gibraltar of the Spanish Government, as well as of the British Government, “which have been safeguarded”.
So far, the talks have focused on the commitment involved in responding to “the aspirations of the citizens”, both the inhabitants of Campo de Gibraltar and the Gibraltarians, and, for the time being, “each maintains its sovereignty within co-responsibility”.
For his part, the British Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, has confirmed in a statement the principle of agreement and has also placed the emphasis on facilitating transit at the border after the departure of the community bloc. As he has indicated, “all parties are committed to mitigating the effects of the end of the transition period on Gibraltar and in particular guaranteeing the fluidity of the border, which is clearly something that is in the best interest of the people who live on both sides. “. Later, the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, was recognized “enthusiastic” with the negotiation. And the chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabián Picardo, has advocated at a press conference to “reset” the relationship with Spain after Brexit in order to move forward with “expectations and hope” and look to the future with greater “positivity”.
Clear the worst crisis
The agreement with Spain distances the . The Government of Gibraltar had to prepare the rock for the worst possible scenario in the Brexit negotiation. The British territory organized a closing of the historic fence in the face of disagreement.
The Government headed by Fabián Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, issued a document in which it prepared its citizens for a no-deal Brexit, the worst scenario for the rock and one that threatened to unleash the worst crisis in its history. “We want to avoid alarm or panic in the general population. This message is to prepare and not panic,” Joseph Garcia, deputy chief minister of Gibraltar and in charge of directing the exit of the Rock from European territory, highlighted at the beginning of the report. For the moment, the contingency plan has not been necessary.
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