WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1744/98 by Graham MATHER to the Commission. Customs controls in Gibraltar
Date: 1998-06-05
Institutions: European Parliament, MATHER
Subjects: Gibraltar, Spain, United Kingdom, application of EU law, bilateral relations, border control, customs inspection, free movement of persons

C 13/76

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.1.1999

Moreover, in pursuing its work in the field of worker protection from exposure to asbestos, the Commission is
also giving particular attention to the latest available scientific data on chrysotile asbestos and to the Council
conclusions of 7 April 1998 (2) on the protection of workers against the risks from exposure to asbestos, which are
based on the Commission communication (3) on the results of the assessment provided for in Council Directive
83/477/EEC (4).

(1) See page 34.
(2) OJ C 142, 7.5.1998.
(3) COM(96) 426 final.
(4) OJ L 263, 24.9.1983.

(1999/C 13/110)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1744/98

by Graham Mather (PPE) to the Commission

(5 June 1998)

Subject: Customs controls in Gibraltar

British Members of the European Parliament regularly receive complaints about delays encountered when
crossing from Gibraltar to Spain.

For customs purposes, Gibraltar is treated as a third country. Accordingly, customs controls will inevitably
involve more delays than those between Member States.

Nevertheless, the extent of the delays encountered by EU citizens crossing this border is clearly not in keeping
with the proportionality principle.

What mechanisms does the Commission have in place to monitor this situation? Does the Commission have any
comment to make about the state of the bilateral negotiations between the UK and Spain which cover this issue?
Does the Commission propose to take any action to facilitate these negotiations?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(28 July 1998)

For customs and indirect taxation purposes Gibraltar is treated as a third country by virtue of Section 4 of Annex I
to the Act of Accession of the United Kingdom of 1972.

There are no Community provisions that prescribe how the Member States must carry out customs controls on
travellers who enter or leave the Community(cid:146)s customs territory. The EC Treaty and derived Community law
merely require that Member States(cid:146) administrations take the measures necessary to ensure that Community
provisions are applied effectively.

The Commission does not monitor the situation at the frontier in question and is not party to any bilateral
negotiations between the United Kingdom and Spain on the control for customs or fiscal purposes of travellers
entering Spain from Gibraltar or vice versa. In 1996 the Commission announced that it had instituted legal
proceedings against Spain because the Spanish authorities appeared to be applying incorrectly, at the border
crossing concerned, the Community provisions in respect of relief from customs duties and taxes on goods
carried by travellers entering the customs territory. However, these proceedings were dropped as soon as the
Spanish authorities showed that they were in conformity with Community law.

Of course, if the Honourable Member can provide details of cases where he considers that the delays mentioned in
his question are avoidable and may be attributed to deliberate action by the authorities of one or other of the
Member States concerned, the Commission will naturally be willing to examine the circumstances and, if it
judges necessary, raise the matter with those authorities.

In respect of the second sentence of his question, the Honourable Member is reminded that there are no longer any
regular customs controls at all on travellers between Member States.