Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,
dated 12 January 2004
Your Committee asked, at my appearance on 11
December, for a note on Gibraltar, Cyprus and the workings of
the European Commission between May and November this year. As
the Committee Clerks have subsequently written to my officials
with additional questions on Cyprus, I suggest that Andrew Mackinlay's
question on that topic can be addressed in their reply.
Gibraltar
The Committee asked about the implications for
Gibraltar of the principle of territorial integrity under the
draft Constitutional Treaty. Article I.3(3) of the Convention
text states that the Union `shall promote economic, social and
territorial cohesion, and solidarity among Member States'. Draft
Article I.5(1) further states that the Union `shall respect essential
[Member] State functions, including those for ensuring the territorial
integrity of the State'.
These provisions were tabled in the Praesidium
of the Convention by Michel Barnier of the Commission with support
from French and Slovak representatives on the Convention floor.
We believe that their primary implication concerns Structural
and Cohesion Funds. They place obligations on the Union and not
on Member States; they do not confer rights on Spain and cannot
reasonably be construed as giving Spain the right to suspend her
obligations to Gibraltar.
The Government of Gibraltar has previously raised
concerns on language in the draft Treaty relating to the demarcation
of borders. It was tabled at the Convention by Alfonso Dastis,
representing the Spanish government.
Draft Article III.166(3) states that the provisions
of Article III.166 on border checks, asylum and immigration `shall
not affect the competence of the Member States concerning the
geographical demarcation of their borders, in accordance with
international law'.
In legal terms, this provision does not break
new ground, merely preserving the competence of each Member State
as regards the geographical demarcation of its border in accordance
with international law. It ensures that matters concerning the
demarcation of borders of Member States are not to be decided
by the Union. This simply maintains the present situation and
does not confer any rights on Spain which it did not already enjoy
under international law.
European Commission
We discussed briefly the shape of the future
Commission during the session. Under the Nice arrangements, which
will come into effect in November this year, there will be twenty-five
Commissioners. Andrew Mackinlay asked specifically however about
the arrangements obtaining before this, but after the accession
of new Member States in May. During that time, the existing twenty
Commissioners will be joined by another ten from the acceding
States. They will be full members of the College of Commissioners,
with voting rights, but without specific portfolios. They will
work closely with the existing Commissioners.
Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
12 January 2004
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