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Gibraltar signs international agreements at the behest of Britain, says UK/Spain bilateral
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Britain and Spain have reached a bilateral agreement to make clear that when the Government of Gibraltar signs an agreement with an independent state, Gibraltar is doing so at the behest of the British Government. The aim is to make clear that Gibraltar is acting as a colony of Britain and not as an independent territory.
The Spanish foreign ministry was much upset when, in March, the chief minister Peter Caruana and the US treasury secretary Tim Geithner signed an agreement for the exchange of tax information amid much fanfare, with the flags of the US and of Gibraltar in the background. The Union Jack was not in the picture.
The agreement with the US was the first by Gibraltar as a pre-requisite of the Gibraltar Government to get iself from the grey list of financial centres.
The agreement now reached between Britain and Spain is to make sure that when Gibraltar signs it does so for administrative and not international reasons.
Reports in Madrid say that Gibraltar is also undertaking to sign any such agreements with independent states in a 'more discreet manner.'
It is being recalled that only last week another tax agreement was signed with Ireland virtually no publicity was given by the Gibraltar Government to the event.
? The question arises if in the tripartite talks any agreement is not entered by Gibraltar as such but by Gibraltar at the express behest of the UK.
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