Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Parliamentary Devolution Team, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Thank you for your letter of 19 October 2006
requesting additional information on the Cordoba Trilateral agreements.
The committee will be aware that the recent
Cordoba agreements on the enhanced use of RAF Gibraltar relate
only to commercial aircraft, and that Spanish restrictions on
the use of their airspace by British Military aircraft flying
to and from Gibraltar have not yet been lifted. The Committee's
recollection is correct that it remains the UK Government's objective
to lift these restrictions and we continue to lobby the Spanish
Government to reconsider its position on this. With respect to
the Gibraltar/Spain direct military communication link, we understand
that the UK MoD is reassessing the requirement for this capability.
Based on this reassessment, which we expect to be complete in
early 2007, the decision can be made as to whether or not we continue
to lobby the Spanish on this issue.
With regard to your second question, the UK
and Spain have made a number of attempts to resolve the blocked
ratification of the 1996 Hague Convention on the International
Protection of Children. As the Committee may be aware it was most
recently discussed as part of the trilateral process and while
we were unable to reach an agreement ahead of 18 September, the
UK and Spain are both committed to finding a solution. Negotiations
are consequently at an advanced stage and we hope that a final
agreement will be reached within the next few weeks. Indeed, this
is the position that the British and Spanish delegations jointly
presented to delegates at the recent Hague Conference's Special
Commission on child protection issues.
Finally, you ask about the settlement on pensions.
The Cordoba settlement does not directly address Community Care's
Household Cost Allowance. However, both the UK and Spanish Governments
view the Cordoba settlement as a satisfactory and equitable outcome
for all involved and a full and final resolution of the longstanding
pensions issue. The wider effect of the Cordoba arrangements is
that they will facilitate the unfreezing of Gibraltar Social Insurance
Fund (GSIF) pensions for pensioners remaining in the GSIF. To
this end, the Chief Minister has already announced that the Government
of Gibraltar will uprate the pensions of all those in the GSIF
from April 2007 (ie from the same date that the UK starts to make
uprated payments to Spanish pensioners who have opted to leave
the GSIF).
I trust that the above information will be of
use to the Committee.
Richard Cooke
November 2006
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