European Parliament’s LIBE committee backs Gib treaty as PP abstains

The Committee on Civil Liberities, Justice and Homes Affairs in the European Parliament [LIBE] has overwhelmingly backed the UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar and recommended that the European Council ratifies the agreement.

The committee voted on the treaty earlier this week and its support follows that expressed by MEPs in other committees including the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on International Trade.

Some 59 MEPs from eight political groups supported an opinion recommending ratification by the Council, with four MEPs from Patriots for Europe – the group that includes Vox – voting against and four abstaining.

Among the abstentions were three MEPs from the Patriots for Europe group and one Partido Popular MEP, Javier Zarzalejos, as member of the European Peoples Party [EPP] group.

Mr Zarzalejos was the only EPP member who did not support the treaty, with 15 EPP parliamentarians voting in favour.

His abstention is interesting because it comes after other PP MEPs condemned the agreement as bad for Spain and Europe during earlier interventions in the parliament.

Just last month, PP MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz warned “things will change” in respect of the treaty if Spain’s general election later this month delivers a right-wing government in Madrid.

PP MEPs have consistently opposed the treaty in the European Parliament.

But the PP abstention in this week’s vote suggests a more pragmatic approach to the agreement as the EU and the UK work to strengthen their relationship against the backdrop of common challenges including the Ukraine conflict and the security threat posed by Russia.

The draft opinion on the treaty approved by the committee this week was prepared by Romanian MEP Loránt Vincze, a member of Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania.

In a statement from Mr Vincze read to the committee by Portuguese MEP Ana Miguel Pedro, the rapporteur said the treaty provides “…a pragmatic and balanced solution that takes into account Gibraltar's particular geographical situation and its special relationship with Spain while leaving broader territorial questions untouched and without prejudicing the question of sovereignty.”

The agreement also “promotes prosperity and constructive relations” while protecting the EU single market and providing safeguards against breaches, as well as regularising the situation of frontier workers.

It also “…it strengthens cooperation in areas that are directly relevant to LIBE, including law enforcement and judicial cooperation, the fight against organized crime, money laundering, and terrorist financing, as well as public safety.”

In his statement, Mr Vincze said MEPs should insist the European Parliament should be “fully and timely informed” on the implementation of the agreement, which must be subject to “appropriate scrutiny”.

“To conclude, while we take note of the concerns that have been raised regarding the legal nature of the agreement, and its implications for member states' competencies, we consider that it provides a balanced and pragmatic solution to a complex situation,” the rapporteur said in his statement to the committee.

The only voice of dissent came from Jorge Buxade, a Vox MEP who had earlier tabled an amendment to the proposal in which he asked MEPs to reject the treaty.

The amendment argued that the Gibraltar agreement “…would legitimise and further entrench the present status quo of a Spanish territory that the UN continues to list as pending decolonisation.”

“Furthermore, the agreement consolidates the UK’s military presence on the rock, gives Spain the responsibility to handle the reception of asylum seekers, and surrenders the effective authority of Spanish law enforcement officers with the dual controls, the impossibility to arrest Gibraltarian residents in Gibraltar, and with a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction, even though the border controls would no longer exist.”

But the amendment was rejected by 56 votes to 10, with one abstention. The PP MEP, Mr Zarzalejos, was one of the 56 who voted against the Vox proposal.

During the session, Mr Buxade addressed the committee and used predictable slurs including describing Gibraltar as “a paradise of smuggling and tax fraud” and arguing that the agreement “recognises and consolidates” UK military presence on the Rock.

He said the treaty was the product of “treason” by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez “with the complicity of the European Union”.