MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK taken by surprise reaffirms sovereignty over Gibraltar waters

The British Government reaffirmed Friday its sovereignty over Gibraltar waters and said it would urgently investigate how they came to be designated as a European protected site under Spanish responsibility, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The UK was reacting to news that the European Commission had accepted a Spanish request to list most of Gibraltar's territorial sea as one of Spain's protected sites under EU environmental legislation. In doing so, the Commission ignored the fact that Britain has jurisdiction over these waters and had already designated part of them as a European protected site in 2006. The move risks setting Britain and Spain on a collision course over the jurisdiction of Gibraltar waters. News of the Spanish designation appears to have caught British and local officials unawares. Diplomatic channels between Gibraltar, Whitehall and Brussels were abuzz as bureaucrats tried to unravel how this situation had come about and, perhaps more importantly, how it could be undone. "We will urgently clarify the circumstances of the EU document in question," a spokesman at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office told the Chronicle. "The UK reaffirms its full confidence over its sovereignty of British Gibraltar's territorial waters." The new Spanish designation was formally published in the EU official gazette last December and was quickly adopted by Spain in its own official publications. In theory at least, Spain now has legal obligations and responsibilities over Gibraltar waters in relation to nature protection. That includes the need to undertake assessments and monitor these areas for wildlife, threats, and other activities with environmental implications.