Claude Moraes (S&D), the British rapporteur of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) on the 'visa-free' regime for British citizens after the United Kingdom's exit from the EU, will try to unblock discussions with the Council, complicated by the Gibraltar issue, on Wednesday 27 February, in a new interinstitutional trilogue.
The Council had indeed wished to take into account, in its mandate, Spain's desire to recall that Gibraltar is a "British colony" (see EUROPE 12185), an addition to which the rapporteur is opposed, who does not consider this necessary or relevant, but whose reaction is also rather poorly perceived by the Spanish members of the LIBE Committee, who suspect it of obstruction.
The EU Council had added this reference to Gibraltar as a British colony without the other 26 Member States opposing it. Only the United Kingdom had expressed its dissatisfaction in the minutes of the meeting.
The European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee, for its part, had taken a position three days earlier (see EUROPE 12182) and chose not to make any further amendments to the Commission's November proposal, thus making no reference to the territory of Gibraltar.
Put in an uncomfortable situation because of his nationality, Claude Moraes explained to his colleagues on 26 February that he had tried to fully defend Parliament's mandate during the first three trilogues with the Council (6, 12 and 20 February) and to find compromises on the drafting of this passage on Gibraltar each time. Thus, he recently proposed that this reference should only refer to the "existing disagreements" between Spain and the United Kingdom on the "border demarcation" surrounding Gibraltar.
The Briton said he had suggested this alternative wording and is still waiting for the opinion of the Member States. During this discussion with the LIBE elected representatives, the rapporteur also explained that there would be no vote in committee until this problem was resolved.
But several elected officials have attacked his dual role, as chairman of the LIBE Committee and as a British MP. Some Spanish elected officials have even suggested that the MP could be manipulated by the British government. EPP MP Agustín Díaz de Mera praised his qualities as a member of parliament, but asked him to renounce being the rapporteur on this subject, even referring to an "abuse of a dominant position". A handful of Spanish elected representatives from all parties also considered that this recital and footnote merely reflected the reality of Gibraltar as recognised by the EU Court of Justice, but also by the United Nations General Assembly.
The British rapporteur pointed out that he had been unanimously appointed rapporteur on this text, without having requested it, and that, during the LIBE vote, no amendments had been made on Gibraltar. He was supported in this sense by his ALDE colleague Petr Ježek (Czechia), who wanted to point out that MEPs are working on a text that is also important for European citizens (reciprocity will also allow them to travel to the UK for short stays without a visa) and not on a text on Gibraltar. The elected representative was concerned about the situation, the fault being mainly due, in his opinion, to the Council, which put this issue in “troubled waters” as the date of the United Kingdom's exit from the EU approaches. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)