Ana Palacio Launches Fresh Attack On Gibraltar

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

14 January 2003

In an interview on Monday with Spanish television programme, La Mirada Critica, Spanish Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio suggested that Spain's recent attacks on Gibraltar through the European Union are an attempt to protect EU member states from the threat posed by the Rock.

Addressing issues which included shipping and Gibraltar's financial services and taxation regime, Ms Palacio reportedly urged the Union to harden its stance against Gibraltar, suggesting that EU directives and laws are being flouted by the jurisdiction in a number of areas.

Reporting on the interview yesterday, the Gibraltar-based Iberia News service observed that: 'The Spanish Minister's attack [indicates]...a new line in Spanish Foreign policy which has seen the use of the EU as a mechanism in which to make its claims for Gibraltar, and which has seen Gibraltar being placed under scrutiny by the EU as their complaints are taken on board.'

The news service added: 'Spain continues to hold many major key positions in the European Union, making it far easier for Spanish influences to prosper against Gibraltar.'

In the same interview, Ms Palacio also drew a distinction between the ongoing Moroccan-Spanish dispute over the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, and the Anglo-Spanish talks over Gibraltar, arguing that while Gibraltar is a valid issue for discussion due to the issues surrounding its decolonisation, there are no such issues with the two other disputed enclaves.

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