COLIN BAKER LONDON

The race is on to reach a compromise in the dispute between Spain and the UKover Gibraltar Airport before the European Union's Gothenburg Council of Ministers summit on 15-16 June. Otherwise, key Brussels initiatives, including air traffic management (ATM) reform, face substantial delay.

The UK foreign office would only say that it hopes to "report progress" in Gothenburg. Brussels insiders say that while negotiations between Madrid and London are continuing, there is no sign of a breakthrough. There is almost no chance of agreement until the UKgeneral election of 7 June is out of the way, they warn, adding that with the summer recess fast approaching, it is feared that failure to reach a deal in time for Gothenburg will see the impetus towards agreement lost.

European transport commissioner Loyola de Palacio pulled the single sky plans on ATM reform from the agenda at the March summit in Stockholm rather than risk seeing the proposals falling victim to the dispute. Plans to reform the airport slot system are also at risk.

The Gibraltar problem has been bypassed previously by clauses stating that the legislation is understood "to be without prejudice to the respective legal positions of the Kingdom of Spain and the UK with regard to the dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the airport is situated". However, de Palacio was loathe to risk the clause being discussed at ministerial level, risking substantial delays, preferring to see it agreed at Commission level.

The disagreement centres on control of Gibraltar's airport, which Spain argues is not built on the Rock of Gibraltar, but on the adjoining isthmus.

Source: Airline Business