MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Territorial waters dispute conditions Moratinos visit to Gibraltar

Caruana claims Spain has thrown “an additional banana skin” to the controversy

Spanish Foreign Secretary Miguel Angel Moratinos has declared that the Tripartite Forum of dialogue is not the place to solve the dispute over the Rock’s territorial waters between Britain, Gibraltar and Spain.

In a statement to the Spanish government funded news agency EFE, Moratinos acknowledged that the inability to reach agreement on maritime cooperation in these waters had become the last obstacle to an official announcement, regarding his visit to Gibraltar for a full ministerial meeting of the forum on July 20/21st.

The dispute over territorial waters with UK interfered with cross-border cooperation in dealing with shipping accidents like that involving the New Flame just off the coast of Gibraltar in 2007.

Moratinos declared that although the British and Gibraltar Governments are keen to demarcate Gibraltar’s waters, Spain prefers to leave this matter outside the discussions of the Tripartite Forum.

He added that, once this issue is solved, the visit to Gibraltar will be finalised, and that this will prove that “it is possible to have dialogue and cooperation” without renouncing Spain’s traditional position on sovereignty.

However Chief Minister Peter Caruana described the European Commission’s decision to demarcate a section of Gibraltar waters as Spanish under EU environmental protection laws “as a banana skin thrown by Spain”.

Speaking from Madrid at the conclusion of three days of technical talks with Britain and Spain, Mr Caruana said the three parties would continue to work over the next few weeks to overcome the difficulties that existed.

But Caruana said that for there to be a ministerial meeting in Gibraltar later this month, (July 20 - 21) “depended on the same things it has always depended”, namely that there should be agreement on the six topics of cooperation that had previously been identified, for ministers to be able to endorse.

Referring to the designation by the European Commission of an area of local waters as under Spanish environmental protection, Mr Caruana said this was the greatest obstacle that needed to be overcome.

“We now have the additional banana skin thrown by Spain at the feet of the process,” he said. Mr Caruana declared that this “can delay or possibly prevent the reaching of agreements.”

The chief minister also stated that there were sections of the Spanish press who were intent on creating “a false image” of Gibraltar, and this included those who say that Moratinos cannot land in the local airport.

He said that the Spanish Foreign Secretary would come to Gibraltar if he felt comfortable, and that it was this that was important, and not the mode of transport which was irrelevant.

Caruana said that Moratinos would be treated with hospitality if he came to the Rock.

In related news a British Foreign Office representative declared that Gibraltar enters into tax agreements with other countries in the same way as all other Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies do.

The statement follows Spanish press reports on the subject in the past few days.

A statement by The Convent (Governor’s residence) said: “The UK has noted press reports in Spain about Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) entered into by Gibraltar and wishes to clarify the position. The process whereby Gibraltar signs such agreements is identical to that regarding all the other Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. The UK Government has explained the UK’s Entrustment Arrangements to Spain in the context of Gibraltar as well as all the OTs and CDs.”