The appropriate remedial measures shall cease to apply:
when the Party having taken such measures is satisfied that the other Party is complying with its obligations under this Chapter; or
in compliance with a ruling of the arbitration tribunal.
A Party shall not invoke the WTO Agreement or any other international agreement to preclude the other Party from suspending obligations under this Article.
Taxation
Vehicles used by road haulage operators of a Party for the carriage of goods in accordance with Articles 276 or 277 shall be exempt from the taxes and charges levied on the possession or circulation of vehicles in the territory of the other Party.
The exemption referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply to:
a tax or charge on fuel consumption;
a charge for using a road or network of roads; or
a charge for using particular bridges, tunnels or ferries.
The fuel contained in the standard tanks of the vehicles and of special containers, admitted temporarily, which is used directly for the purpose of propulsion and, where appropriate, for the operation, during transport, of refrigeration systems and other systems, as well as lubricants present in the motor vehicles and required for their normal operation during the journey, shall be free of customs duties and any other taxes and levies, such as VAT and excise duties, and shall not be subject to any import restrictions.
The spare parts imported for repairing a vehicle on the territory of one Party that has been registered or put into circulation in the other Party, shall be admitted under cover of a temporary duty-free admission and without prohibition or restriction of importation. The replaced parts are subject to customs duties and other taxes (VAT) and shall be re-exported or destroyed under the control of the customs authorities of the other Party.
Chapter 3. MARITIME TRANSPORT
Article ARTICLE 286
Maritime transport
Each Party shall:
accord to ships supplying international maritime transport services1 and flying the flag of any Member State or of the United Kingdom (Gibraltar), or operated by service suppliers of the other Party, treatment no less favourable than that accorded to its own ships with regard to:
(i) access to ports; (ii) the use of port infrastructure; (iii) the use of maritime auxiliary services2; and (iv) customs facilities and the assignment of berths and facilities for loading and unloading, including related fees and charges;
1 "International maritime transport services" means the transport of passengers or cargo by seagoing vessels between a port of one Party and a port of the other Party or of a third country, or between ports of different Member States, including the direct contracting with providers of other transport services, with a view to covering door-to-door or multimodal transport operations under a single transport document.
2 "Maritime auxiliary services" means maritime cargo handling services, customs clearance services, container station and depot services, maritime agency services, maritime freight forwarding services and storage and warehousing services.
make available, in the port and the port internal waters, to international maritime transport service suppliers of the other Party on terms and conditions which are both reasonable and no less favourable than those applicable to its own suppliers or vessels (including fees and charges, specifications and quality of the service to be provided), the following port services: pilotage, towing and tug assistance, provisioning, fuelling and watering, garbage collecting and ballast waste disposal, port captain's services, navigation aids, emergency repair facilities, anchorage, berth, berthing and unberthing services and shore-based operational services essential to ship operations, including communications, water and electrical supplies.
Title IV. EXCEPTIONS
Article ARTICLE 287
General exceptions
Nothing in Titles I and II of Part Three shall be construed as preventing a Party from adopting or maintaining measures compatible with Article XX of GATT 1994. To that end, Article XX of GATT 1994, including its Notes and Supplementary Provisions, is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement, mutatis mutandis.
Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade in services, nothing in Title III of Part Three shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by either Party of measures:
necessary to protect public security or public morals, or to maintain public order1;
necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
necessary to secure compliance with laws or regulations which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement including those relating to:
the prevention of deceptive and fraudulent practices or to deal with the effects of a default on contracts;
the protection of the privacy of individuals in relation to the processing and dissemination of personal data and the protection of confidentiality of individual records and accounts; and
safety.
1 The public security and public order exceptions may be invoked only where a genuine and sufficiently serious threat is posed to one of the fundamental interests of society.
For greater certainty, the Parties understand that, to the extent that such measures are otherwise inconsistent with the provisions of the titles referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article:
the measures referred to in point (b) of Article XX of GATT 1994 and in point (b) of paragraph 2 of this Article include environmental measures, which are necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health;
point (g) of Article XX of GATT 1994 applies to measures relating to the conservation of living and non-living exhaustible natural resources; and
measures taken to implement multilateral environmental agreements can fall under points (b) or (g) of Article XX GATT 1994 or under point (b) of paragraph 2 of this Article.
Before a Party takes any measures provided for in points (i) and (j) of Article XX of GATT 1994, that Party shall provide the other Party with all relevant information, with a view to
seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties. If no agreement is reached within 30 days of providing the information, the Party may apply the relevant measures. Where exceptional and critical circumstances requiring immediate action make prior information or examination impossible, the Party intending to take the measures may apply forthwith precautionary measures necessary to deal with the situation. That Party shall inform the other Party immediately thereof.
Security exceptions Nothing in Part Three shall be construed:
to require a Party to furnish or allow access to any information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or
to prevent a Party from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests:
connected to the production of or traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war and to such traffic and transactions in other goods and materials, services and technology, and to economic activities, carried out directly or indirectly for the purpose of supplying a military establishment;
relating to fissionable and fusionable materials or the materials from which they are derived; or
taken in time of war or other emergency in international relations; or
to prevent a Party from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Taxation
Nothing in Titles I and II of Part Three shall affect the rights and obligations of either the Union or its Member States and the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, under any tax convention. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such tax convention, the tax convention shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. With regard to a tax convention between the Union or its Member States and the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, the relevant competent authorities under this Agreement and that tax convention shall jointly determine whether an inconsistency exists between this Agreement and the tax convention.1
Articles 276 and 277 Shall Not Apply to an Advantage Accorded by a Party Pursuant to a Tax Convention.
1 For greater certainty, such determination shall be without prejudice to Title I of Part Six.
Subject to the requirement that tax measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade and investment, nothing in Titles I and II of Part Three shall be construed to prevent the adoption, maintenance or enforcement by a Party of any measure that:
aims at ensuring the equitable or effective1 imposition or collection of direct taxes; or
distinguishes between taxpayers who are not in the same situation, in particular with regard to their place of residence, or with regard to the place where their capital is invested.
1 Measures that are aimed at ensuring the equitable or effective imposition or collection of direct taxes include measures taken by a Party under its taxation system which:
apply to non-resident service suppliers in recognition of the fact that the tax obligation of non-residents is determined with respect to taxable items sourced or located in the Party's territory; or
apply to non-residents in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes in the Party's territory; or
apply to non-residents or residents in order to prevent the avoidance or evasion of taxes, including compliance measures; or
apply to consumers of services supplied in or from the territory of the other Party or of a third country in order to ensure the imposition or collection of taxes on such consumers derived from sources in the Party's territory; or
distinguish service suppliers subject to tax on worldwide taxable items from other service suppliers, in recognition of the difference in the nature of the tax base between them; or
determine, allocate or apportion income, profit, gain, loss, deduction or credit of resident persons or branches, or between related persons or branches of the same person, in order to safeguard the Party's tax base.
For the purposes of this Article, the following definitions apply:
"direct taxes" comprise all taxes on income or capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of property, taxes on estates, inheritances and gifts, taxes on wages or salaries paid by enterprises and taxes on capital appreciation
"residence" means residence for tax purposes; and
"tax convention" means a convention for the avoidance of double taxation or any other international agreement or arrangement relating wholly or mainly to taxation1.
WTO Waivers
If an obligation in this Agreement is substantially equivalent to an obligation contained in the WTO Agreement, any measure taken in conformity with a waiver adopted pursuant to Article IX of the WTO Agreement is deemed to be in conformity with the substantially equivalent provision in this Agreement.
1 This includes the International Agreement on Taxation and the Protection of Financial Interests between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Kingdom of Spain regarding Gibraltar dated 4 March 2019.
Part FOUR. FRONTIER WORKERS
Title I. PERSONAL SCOPE
Article ARTICLE 291
Personal scope
This Part shall apply to the following persons:
Union citizens legally residing in the Kingdom of Spain;
United Kingdom nationals legally residing in Gibraltar; and
Family members of the persons referred to in point (a) provided they legally reside in Spain and family members of the persons referred to in point (b) provided they legally reside in Gibraltar. For the purposes of this Part and irrespective of their nationality, family members are:
the spouse;
the partner with whom the persons referred to in points (a) and (b) have contracted a registered partnership in accordance with the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation of a Member State or the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, provided that the legislation of Spain or the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, treats registered partnerships as equivalent to marriage and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the relevant legislation of Spain or of the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, respectively.
the direct descendants who are under the age of 21 or are dependents and those of the spouse or partner as defined in point (ii);
the dependent direct relatives in the ascending line and those of the spouse or partner as defined in point (ii).
For the purposes of this Part, persons referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 who pursue an economic activity as an employed person either in Gibraltar or in Spain and who return at least once a week to Spain or to Gibraltar, respectively, are employed frontier workers.
For the purposes of this Part, persons referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 who pursue an economic activity as a self-employed person both in Gibraltar, in accordance with the law of the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, and in Spain, in accordance with the law of Spain, and who return at least once per week to Spain and Gibraltar, respectively, are self-employed frontier workers.
Title II. FRONTIER WORKERS' RIGHTS AND ANCILLARY RIGHTS
Article ARTICLE 292
Frontier Workers' rights
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) shall have a right to take up and pursue an activity as an employed frontier worker in Gibraltar in accordance with the rules applicable to United Kingdom nationals in Gibraltar.
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(b) shall have a right to take up and pursue an activity as an employed frontier worker in the Kingdom of Spain in accordance with the rules applicable to Spanish nationals in the Kingdom of Spain.
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) who are employed frontier workers shall enjoy the right to equal treatment with employed persons referred to in Article 291(1)(b) in Gibraltar. This shall entail:
the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of nationality as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment;
the right to equal treatment in respect of conditions of employment and work, in particular as regards remuneration, dismissal and in case of unemployment, reinstatement or re-employment;
social and tax advantages, except rights of access to housing;
membership of trade unions and the exercise of rights attaching thereto, including the right to vote and to be eligible for the administration or management posts of a trade union, however, they may be excluded from taking part in the management of bodies governed by public law and from holding an office governed by public law;
the same rights as regards access to training in vocational schools and retraining centres.
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(b) who are employed frontier workers shall enjoy the same right to equal treatment with employed Spanish nationals in Kingdom of Spain in respect of the matters referred to in paragraph 3.
Persons as referred to in Article 291(1)(a) and (b) shall enjoy the following rights in Gibraltar and the Kingdom of Spain, respectively:
the right to enter, stay and leave in order to register with the employment services to allow these persons to find out about the employment opportunities corresponding to their professional qualifications and, if necessary, take appropriate steps to take up employment as employed frontier workers; this shall include the right to be assisted by the employment offices under the same conditions as United Kingdom nationals in Gibraltar and Spanish nationals in the Kingdom of Spain;
the right to enter, stay and leave while employed as a frontier worker or pursuing an activity as a self-employed frontier worker;
the right to retain frontier worker status provided they are in one of the following circumstances:
they are temporarily unable to work as the result of an illness or accident;
they are in duly recorded involuntary unemployment after having been employed for more than one year and have registered as job-seekers with the relevant employment office;
they are in duly recorded involuntary unemployment after having completed a
fixed-term employment contract of less than a year or after having become involuntarily unemployed during the first twelve months and have registered as job-seekers with the relevant employment office. In this case, the status of worker shall be retained for no less than six months;
they embark on vocational training. Unless they are involuntarily unemployed, the retention of the status of worker shall require the training to be related to the previous employment.
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) and (b) may be refused the right to take up employment in the public service which involves direct or indirect participation in the exercise of powers conferred by public law and duties designed to safeguard the general interests of the Kingdom of Spain or of the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, as the case may be or of other public authorities.
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) and (b) who are self-employed frontier workers shall enjoy the rights set out in points (b) to (e) of paragraph 3.
Paragraph 7 shall apply mutatis mutandis to persons as referred to in Article 291(1)(b) who are self-employed frontier workers.
Family members of frontier workers
Family members, as defined in Article 291(1)(c) of persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) who are employed frontier workers or self-employed frontier workers, shall enjoy a derivative right to equal treatment in the access to social and tax advantages with family members of persons referred to in Article 291(1)(b) who are employed or self-employed in Gibraltar.
The children of persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) who are employed or self-employed frontier workers in Gibraltar provided that such children are residing in Gibraltar shall enjoy the right to equal treatment in the access to the general educational, apprenticeship and vocational training courses, with the children of persons referred to in Article 291(1)(b) employed in Gibraltar.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the family members and the children of persons referred to in Article 291(1)(b) who are employed frontier workers or self-employed frontier workers in the Kingdom of Spain.
Objectively justified measures
Measures derogating from equal treatment pursuant to paragraphs 3, 4, and 7 of Article 292 are permissible only if they are objectively justified. In order to be justified, they must be appropriate for securing the attainment of a legitimate objective and must not go beyond what is necessary to attain that objective.
Posted workers
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) and (b) who pursue an activity as employed persons for an employer which normally carries out its activities in the Kingdom of Spain and Gibraltar, respectively, and who are posted for a limited period by that employer to Gibraltar and the Kingdom of Spain, respectively, to supply services that are both locally produced and consumed at the contiguous frontier zone on that employer's behalf shall enjoy the right to enter, leave and stay without hindrance necessary for the supply of said services and shall enjoy, on the basis of equality of treatment, the terms and conditions of employment which are laid down in the territory where the worker is posted and which are set out in that territory by law, regulation or administrative provision and/or by collective agreements or arbitration awards which have been declared universally applicable or otherwise apply in accordance with paragraph 2. These terms and conditions of employment are listed in Annex 28 to this Agreement. The application of these terms and conditions of employment shall not prevent the application of terms and conditions of employment which are more favourable to posted workers.
For the purpose of this Article, "collective agreements or arbitration awards which have been declared universally applicable" means collective agreements or arbitration awards which must be observed by all undertakings in the geographical area and in the profession or industry concerned.
In the absence of, or in addition to, a system for declaring collective agreements or arbitration awards to be of universal application within the meaning of the previous subparagraph, Gibraltar and the Kingdom of Spain, may, if they so decide, base themselves on:
collective agreements or arbitration awards which are generally applicable to all similar undertakings in the geographical area and in the profession or industry concerned; and/or
collective agreements which have been concluded by the most representative employers' and labour organisations at national level and which are applied throughout national territory.
Equality of treatment, within the meaning of paragraph 1, shall be deemed to exist where national employers in a similar position:
are subject, in the place in question or in the sector concerned, to the same obligations as posting employers as regards the matters listed in Annex 28, and
are required to fulfil such obligations with the same effects.
Documentation
Persons referred to in Article 291(1)(a) and (b) who are employed or self-employed frontier workers shall have the right to be issued with a document certifying their status under this Part. This document may be in a digital form.
Public policy, public security and public health
The rights granted under this Title may be restricted by means of measures which are justified on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.
Measures taken on grounds of public policy or public security shall comply with the principle of proportionality and shall be based exclusively on the personal conduct of the individual concerned. Previous criminal convictions shall not in themselves constitute grounds for taking such measures.
The only diseases justifying measures restricting stay, entry or exit shall be the diseases with epidemic potential as defined by the relevant instruments of the World Health Organisation and other infectious diseases or contagious parasitic diseases if they are the subject to protection provisions applying to persons as referred to in Article 291(1)(a) and (b).
The persons concerned shall be notified in writing of any decision taken under point 1 in such a way that they are able to comprehend its content and the implications for them. They shall be informed, precisely and in full, of the public policy, public security or public health grounds on which the decision taken in their case is based, unless this is contrary to the interests of State security. The notification shall specify the court or administrative authority with which the person concerned may lodge an appeal, the time limit for the appeal and, where applicable, the time allowed for the person to leave the territory.
The persons concerned shall have access to judicial and, where appropriate, administrative redress procedures to appeal against or seek review of any decision taken against them on the grounds of public policy, public security or public health. The redress procedures shall allow for an examination of the legality of the decision, as well as of the facts and circumstances on which the proposed measure is based. They shall ensure that the decision is not disproportionate.
The United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, or the Kingdom of Spain, may not prevent the individual from submitting their defence in person, except when their appearance may cause serious troubles to public policy or public security or when the appeal or judicial review concerns a denial of entry to the territory.
Title III. SOCIAL SECURITY COORDINATION
Article ARTICLE 298
Social security coordination
In order to secure the social security rights of the persons covered by the Protocol on Social Security Coordination, the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom, in respect of Gibraltar, shall apply their social security systems in accordance with the Protocol.
Article ARTICLE 299
Financial provisions
The Cooperation Council shall establish a financial mechanism to promote cohesion between Gibraltar and the contiguous frontier zone, including on matters of training and employment. Any such measures should take into account the protection of the Parties' financial interests against fraud and other illegal activities and irregularities.
Both Parties should provide funding for this mechanism.
Part SIX. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
Chapter 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article ARTICLE 300
Objectives
The objective of this Title is to establish an effective and efficient mechanism for avoiding and settling disputes between the Parties concerning the interpretation and application of this Agreement and supplementing agreements, with a view to reaching, where possible, a mutually agreed solution.
Scope
This Title applies, subject to paragraphs 2 to 5, to disputes between the Parties concerning the interpretation and application of the provisions of this Agreement or of any supplementing agreement ("covered provisions").
The covered provisions shall include all provisions of this Agreement and of any supplementing agreement with the exception of:
(a) Article 2;
(b) Title II of Part One;
(c) Title V of Part Two, including when applying in relation to situations governed by other provisions of this Agreement;
(d) Article 199(1), (2) and (4), 207 and 208, Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Title I of Part.
The Cooperation Council may be seized by a Party with a view to resolving a dispute with respect to obligations arising from the provisions referred to in paragraph 2.