ECJ Rules In Favour Of Gibraltar In EU Voting Dispute
The European Court of Justice has rejected Spain's argument that electoral laws
in Gibraltar, which allow some non-EU citizens to vote in European Parliament
elections, violated EU law.
According to the ECJ's decision, Britain must decide for itself whether to
allow non-EU citizens to vote in European elections, stating that there is no
specific definition in EU treaties of who is entitled to vote. Spain filed the court action last year, claiming that as some Gibraltarians
are not EU citizens they should not be allowed to vote for members of the European
Parliament or stand for election themselves. The European Court of Justice also rejected another part of Spain's case which
suggested Britain had acted illegally by including Gibraltar in its voting districts
for European Parliament elections. The court said Britain had an obligation
to extend voting rights to British citizens in Gibraltar. Gibraltar was included within the UK's South Western constituency for the 2004
elections to the European Parliament. Following Tuesday's decision, South West and Gibraltar MEP Graham Watson stated: "It comes as a fitting conclusion to Gibraltar's National Day celebrations
that the European Court of Justice has thrown out a spurious Spanish assault
on Gibraltar's sovereignty." The ECJ's ruling was also welcomed by the government of Gibraltar, which said
in a statement that: "the outcome of this case now definitively brings
these issues to a conclusion in totally satisfactory terms for Gibraltar". .
|
|
IMPORTANT NOTICE: TAX-NEWS.COM has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments. All materials on this site copyright TAX-NEWS.COM 1999 to 2007. Contact us for further information.