Spain Challenges UK Law On Gibraltar European Vote

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

01 August 2003

The European Commission confirmed this week that the Spanish Foreign Ministry has made a submission challenging UK laws which will allow Gibraltarians to vote in elections to the European Parliament as part of a UK constituency.

Reports from the Spanish media, which has reported extensively on Anglo/Spanish developments concerning the Rock recently, stated that the Spanish government was not attempting to deprive Gibraltar's electorate of its right to vote. Madrid daily, El Pais said that the action was brought for "technical reasons."

“There are only a handful of cases in which one European member state takes another to task before the Commission on account of not fulfilling its obligations as a member state, but Spain claims it has been ‘obliged’ to do so in order to preserve the integrity of the EU’s citizenship laws," the paper stated, according to the Gibraltar Chronicle. "Spain says its challenge is purely technical, and has nothing to do with its sovereignty claim on the Rock."

El Pais goes on to explain that the Spanish argument is based on fears that the UK's legislation regarding Gibraltar may inadvertently allow non-EU residents to vote in European elections, as Gibraltar citizenship can be obtained by commonwealth nationals. "The new law passed in the British parliament", says Spain, "works against the concept of European citizenship, and ‘divides the rights of European citizens’, creating different types of European citizens," the Gibraltar Chronicle reported.

El Pais was reportedly at pains to reiterate the 'technical' nature of the Spanish government's action, which it claims is entirely free from any political motivations.

"Spain says it is not trying to deny European citizens in Gibraltar their right to vote in European elections and points out that it is Britain itself which has prevented Gibraltarians from voting in European elections in the past, and has now passed its legislation allowing Gibraltarians to vote only because they are obliged to do so following the ruling in the Matthews case," the Madrid daily stated.

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