MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar and Foreign Office disagree on waters’ “sovereignty” or “control”

Chief Minister Peter Caruana revealed the different approaches

Britain and Gibraltar will use different legal arguments in challenging the European Commission’s decision to twice approve a Spanish nature site with British Gibraltar waters. While Gibraltar is focusing on British sovereignty of the waters, Britain itself has centred its case on the issue of control, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The diverging positions were revealed by Chief Minister Peter Caruana during an interview on GBC this week.

“They have decided to use arguments which are different to the ones that the Gibraltar Government used. We used all the arguments that relate to sovereignty, all the arguments that relate to the fact that this is not Spanish territory…but the UK have preferred...to not argue sovereignty and rather argue that the UK controls the waters”, said Caruana.

“We believe that that is fraught with danger, they believe nevertheless that that is the sensible way for them to argue the case”, he added.

The different position was the subject of disagreement between the British and Gibraltar Governments, with discussions held at the highest ministerial level.

“The Foreign Office legal advisors would simply not be moved and they apparently are the guys who make the decisions these days,” said the Chief Minister.

“Let’s hope that they are right and that they can succeed with their arguments”.

Caruana made clear that the UK, in challenging the Commission, was asserting sovereignty over Gibraltar waters.

“It’s not that the UK’s case doesn’t say that these are British waters, it does,” he said, but “the use of that fact in the legal argument is where the difference of opinion existed”.

Britain decided to launch its case after the Commission approved the Spanish designation for the second time. The first designation was already the subject of a challenge by the Gibraltar Government but the Commission will argue that Gibraltar lacks jurisdiction to file the case.

Mr Caruana would not be drawn on the detail of the different legal arguments placed before the European Court over the same issue.

“We’ve got to be very careful how we particularise these differences because we don’t want to prejudice the case,” he said.
“The important thing here is that the Spanish designation should be ruled to be unlawful, that the Spanish Site of Community Interest (in Gibraltar waters) should be removed from the list…”