By Bruno Waterfield - 6th April 2006
Some residents in the UK’s Gibraltar territory may lose their European votes following an opinion of the EU’s advocate general.
The European Court of Justice’s legal expert Antonio Tizzano has responded to a complaint from Spain – which disputes UK possession of Gibraltar.
Tizzano issued a Thursday opinion that non UK, and thus non-EU, citizens from controlled territories or former British Empire Commonwealth colonies should not necessarily have a European vote.
Gibraltar is a UK possession but the vast majority of its 28,000 residents are full British citizens and thus have full EU rights.
Numbers of Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar, mainly from Pakistan, India or Bangladesh – are estimated to be tiny, around 100 people.
The territory had its first European parliament vote in 2004, with the UK possession included inside a south west England constituency – a geographical arrangement not disputed by Tizzano.
Tizzano’s opinion is not legally binding but the European Court of Justice follows the advocate general’s view in 80 per cent of cases.
Gibraltar has been held by the UK since 1704 and is at the root of a bitter dispute with Spain – the territory is on the southern tip of the Spanish mainland.
Socialist MEP south west England and Gibraltar Glyn Ford attacked an opinion that could discriminate between Commonwealth citizens.
“If this outrageous opinion from the Advocate-General was to become a court ruling we would have the absurd situation of Commonwealth citizens unable to vote or stand for election as their counterparts on mainland UK could,” he said.
The opinion has enraged a Eurosceptic MEP who represents Gibraltar under the contested voting arrangements.
The UK Independence Party’s Roger Knapman is concerned that a future ruling could disenfranchise up to a million Commonwealth voters.
“This opinion seems to mean that a Hungarian living in Gibraltar can vote, but a Gibraltarian cannot,” he said.
“In order to kow-tow to the paranoia of the Spanish, Europe appears to be intent on discriminating against those from the Commonwealth, this must not be allowed to happen.”
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