EU member states formally approved a landmark agreement with the United Kingdom to integrate the British territory of Gibraltar, located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, into the operational rules of the Schengen area, according to an April 1 announcement from the European Commission. The agreement will enter provisional application on July 15 and shift border checks away from the land frontier onto Gibraltar's port and airport, where Schengen entry procedures will be carried out.

In practical terms, this agreement involves dismantling existing land border infrastructure and establishing new Schengen-compliant controls at Gibraltar's external entry points. Border controls at Gibraltar's port and airport will involve Spanish (i.e., Schengen) authorities alongside Gibraltar/U.K. authorities. This agreement is the result of years of negotiations following Brexit, which left Gibraltar outside the European Union but economically dependent on streamlined access to the Spanish hinterland. The prospect of a "hard border" threatened both Gibraltar's service-based economy and the livelihoods of thousands of Spanish cross-border workers.