Spain insists in blocking Gibraltar from EU single sky measures

10th Tuesday, March 2015 - 08:34 UTC Full article

García-Margallo has been pressing for Gibraltar to be excluded from a new trench EU Single Sky measures, currently frozen because of the row

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo has renewed his bid to have Gibraltar excluded from the European Union aviation measures. According to Spanish wire reports he raised the issue in Riga during a conference of foreign ministers which was intended to focus on the crisis with Russia and Ukraine.

García-Margallo has been pressing for Gibraltar to be excluded from a new trench EU Single Sky measures, currently frozen because of the row, and said the proposal had been well received by EU partners as well as Ukraine. It simply seeks to apply the measure to all airports except Gibraltar and leave that to UK-Spain bilateral talks.

The Spanish minister said he had spoken with Philip Hammond, his UK counterpart.

“He expressed his view I expressed mine,” said García-Margallo repeating the thesis that the airport was not ceded under Utrecht. He said that Spain could not accept anything that would “recognize British sovereignty” over the isthmus. But he pointed to Basle like agreements between UK and Spain.

“Spain is very willing to look for a solution to this issue…a joint use of the airport by UK and Spain” he declared.