Spain's Gibraltar checks lawful - EU
The European Commission assessed the legality of the border checks on 25 September
Checks by Spain at its border with Gibraltar did not break EU laws, the European Commission has ruled.
Madrid imposed strict controls at the border with the British territory amid a row over the creation by Gibraltar of an artificial reef in disputed waters.
The commission's ruling followed a UK complaint and it has also written to thee UK and Spain with recommendations to avoid future delays at the border.
But the UK still says the "politically motivated" checks were unlawful.
The commission, which assessed the legality of the checks on 25 September, advised the countries to work better together to help fight tobacco smuggling and cross-border crime. Spain said at the time its tougher border checks were intended to tackle these issues.
The report gives both sides six months to respond to the recommendations, and Brussels "reserves the right" to revise its view on the legality of Spanish action and "pay another visit" to the Spain-Gibraltar crossing point if necessary.
Tobacco smuggling
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We welcome the fact that the commission has put Spain on notice. We continue to believe that Spain has acted unlawfully. We will continue to provide evidence to the commission."
He added that despite the commission not finding evidence that EU law was infringed it "is not the same as concluding that Spain had not acted unlawfully".
And he said the UK "do not rule out taking direct legal action against the Spanish government" at the European Court of Justice over the border delays.
While the commission found that no EU laws had been broken at the border, it did say that the crossing point was "challenging, in view of the heavy traffic volumes in a relatively confined space and the increase in tobacco smuggling into Spain".
In its letter to Spain, the commission recommends it makes better use of existing traffic lanes or adds new lanes on the Spanish side of the border and uses more targeted checks "to reduce the large amount of random border controls".
In its letter to the UK, the commission recommends the development of risk-based profiling of travellers and improved laws and safeguards against tobacco smuggling.
Both countries were asked to develop an "exchange of information" with each other about tobacco smuggling.
Sir Graham Watson, a Lib Dem MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar, said he was "deeply disappointed" the European Commission had found no laws were breached by the border checks.
"The only welcome news is their recommendation to Spain to put in place more targeted checks and a more 'refined risk analysis'. The implication is that the current checks are too random," he said.
"EU law says that Spain's measures have to be proportionate. Are random, blanket checks not disproportionate?"
The row broke out in July when Spanish authorities increased checks at the Gibraltar border, saying they were necessary to tackle tobacco smuggling.
Gibraltar, though, said the strict checks came after it dropped 74 concrete blocks into the sea next to its territory, intended to create an artificial reef and encourage sea life to flourish.
Spain said the blocks would disrupt waters used by its fishing boats, but denied that the development had prompted its increased border checks.
Spain disputes UK sovereignty over Gibraltar, a limestone outcrop known as the Rock near the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, which was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
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