“The European Union could be accused of making trouble for Gibraltar...”

“The European Union could be accused of making trouble for Gibraltar...” | JON NAZCA - REUTERS - X02457

Jason MoorePalma27/07/2021 09:45
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It could be said that the European Union is seeking to make trouble for Britain post-Brexit. Under the latest European Union plans for Gibraltar Spain should carry out border control and surveillance at Gibraltar’s port, airport and waters.

There is no way that the people of Gibraltar or even the British government would ever accept this. I suppose the European Union is well aware of this and it could be said that they are “making trouble.”

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the plan conflicted with an agreement between London, Madrid and Gibraltar reached in December last year, just before Britain completed its exit from the EU. “It seeks to undermine the UK’s sovereignty over Gibraltar, and cannot form a basis for negotiations,“ Raab said.

You can´t get clearer than that really. Gibraltar does have a first class airport but it is hardly used because Spain is opposed to its use as a “feeder” airport for the rest of southern Spain. On Gibraltar, Spain had a golden opportunity to win hearts and minds with the Gibraltarians.

The majority of people on “The Rock” were firmly opposed to Brexit. Spain could have offered to work alongside the Gibraltar government so that the British “outpost” could retain some of their European Union rights.

Sadly, this has not been the case and this latest piece of senceless news from the European Union just underlines this point. Spain and the EU should work with Gibraltar not the other way around.