The government notes the exclusion of the Malvinas from Brexit: its own victory or external factors?

The government considered a diplomatic triumph that the agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which sealed the departure of the British from the continental Commonwealth did not include in the chapter which will regulate future trade relations tangible benefits for the pro-British administration of Falkland Islands.

The chancellor Felipe Solá He underlined on Saturday evening the steps taken by the ministry he heads in this regard, as he had anticipated. The chronicler hours before London and Brussels announced they had reached an agreement to seal the Brexi.

“Finally, the post-Brexit deal between the EU and the UK did not include the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. We ask for it in all the forums and meetings that we have held in 2020 with European foreign ministers.“, underlined on Twitter the head of the Argentinian diplomacy, whose permanence in power had been contested by officials or activists close to the vice-president Cristina Kirchner.

At the beginning of December, officials from the Foreign Ministry held a bilateral meeting with European representatives to express to them “the interest of maintaining a renewed political dialogue with the EU on the issue of the Falkland Islands”, as they later officially communicated.

The semantic formula sums up the government’s interest in put pressure on the island economy in the medium term, since from now on they will have to pay tariffs between 6 and 18% to enter their production on the old continent. Without guaranteed access fees, discounted fares or community funding for local development, the government deemed illegitimate in mainland South America will become more dependent on London and, perhaps, forced to take a different look at Buenos Aires – at least. they hope for official dispatches.

Other interests at stake

In early December, British negotiating officials admitted that overseas territories could be excluded from any trade regulations, and they did. Much of the final stage of the Brexit negotiation depended on the type of fisheries agreement to be reached, since under EU regulations British vessels could fish in areas of other European countries, and vice versa.

According to diplomatic sources, Europe left the Falklands out of the negotiations not at the insistence of the government, but to ensure the continuity of Spanish operations in the South Atlantic which are developed with permission from Argentina. From the port of Vigo leave vessels which, with a national license, fish around the archipelago and compete directly with the vessels authorized by the kelp. This has been the case since the time when Solá was in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Moreover, by reducing trade between the British Overseas Territories and Europe, Brussels could cover the vacant demand by granting tariff preferences to third countries with which it concludes future trade agreements, using the window that s ‘opens as an element in its favor.

However, diplomats predict this episode will make Solá air as chancellor. President Alberto Fernandez and the chief of staff, Santiago cafieroThey are not thinking of very short term changes in this portfolio and prefer to keep their own “soldier”, as they see the former governor of Buenos Aires, rather than cede ground to other forces within the Front de. Todos, in particular La Campora.

However, Solá demanded changes in the day-to-day management of the ministry and better results as the head of a highly skilled bureaucracy, such as the diplomatic one. It is expected that, in the coming weeks, changes will be made to the secretaries and under-secretaries of “the house”.