European Commission rebukes Spain over border queues

Deadline for finishing work by summer of 2015 'at the latest'

(www.telegraph.co.uk)

GIBRALTAR (from The Gibraltar Chronicle by Dominique Searle) In a stinging letter the European Commission has criticised Spain and given it the deadline of summer 2015 for the completion of its works at the frontier that are supposed to respond to the “unjustified” delays witnessed by a team of EU experts in September 2013. The move comes in a letter recently sent to the Madrid Government which also sets out new steps its expects to be taken to ease flow. It states that checks by the Spanish authorities on travellers should be “significantly reduced” and that Spain should work with the Gibraltar border authorities in relation to frontier reforms. The letter also details that the Commission last July offered to act as a conduit for two way information exchanges between Spain and Gibraltar on the basis of each side approving what information can be passed on.

The move follows a second visit by EU Commission experts to the frontier last July (2014) and makes clear that it is concerned at the continued flow of complaints they have received of which they give five hour queues between July 11-15 as an example.

Though the Commission welcomes Spain’s commitment to act it says that based on the information Spain provided to date on how it intends to implement the Commission recommendations it urges Spain to take the additional measures which it lists but “without delay” and “in a way which avoids further hindrance to traffic.” It recalls that the Commission “expects the works allowing fluid border crossings to be finalised by the summer of 2015 at the latest.”

The EU Commission has asked for monthly reports from Spain and documentation promising to handle these in a sensitive and confidential way.

The additional measures set out by the Commission for Spain to act upon are set out as “essential” for the improvement at the border and include criticism of 100% checks on cars.

To Spain’s assertion that it based its controls on risk assessment and randomness the Commission states, in relation to cars entering Spain:

“During the visit Spain presented an example of timeslots for intensified checks during which, according to your authorities 20% to 50% of vehicles are checked. Your authorities also advised that during short periods of time (5 to 15 minutes), 100% of vehicles are checked.”

“These do not seem to correspond to the fine tuning of the risk profiling said to be implemented since October 2013, nor does it seem to be in line with the principle of proportionate checks and the need and the need to avoid excessive waiting times for travellers.”

In fact the Commission says the time slots should be “significantly reduced”. This is having already considered that checks should be proportionate to the cases of irregularities found such as administrative offences or crimes related to tobacco smuggling and the number of seizures.

The Commission says that it was told that checks in the green lane remain “exceptional” and, making the assumption that this is correct, says that is the way they should be continued.

Going further the Commission says that on cars exiting Spain the checks should be “fundamentally reduced or abolished.” It adds that this was a recommendation already included in the Commission’s letter to Spain of November 15 2013 “and appears not to have been implemented.” 

The Commission presses Spain to provide regular detailed information on what it is doing and its analysis as well as monthly statistics on checks on both vehicles and pedestrians in both directions. The letter presses also for the exchange of information on tobacco smuggling and says that it believes that “the absence of dialogue considerably undermines the capacity of both authorities (UK and Spain) to tackle the tobacco smuggling problem.”

On dealing with the temporary measures and works the Commission “invites Spain to inform the Gibraltar authorities operating directly at the crossing point of the planned temporary measures, including the details and full plans, as soon as possible and to involve them to the extent possible during the implementation thereof.”

The Commission wants details from Spain on the temporary arrangements and points out the possibility of joint passport and customs checks saying these would be overall more efficient and allow better risk assessment.

And the Commission says that for cars driving into Spain there should on arriving be three lanes, not two as Madrid proposed, i.e. one red and two green, instead of one of each.

To avoid excessive speed the Commission rejects plans for a roundabout and says that electronic barriers and bumps could be used instead.

Meanwhile it is understood that the Commission has now made, as yet undisclosed, further recommendations to UK in relation to fighting tobacco smuggling.