The MEP for Gibraltar (bizarrely it comes into the South Devon constituency) is very concerned about what would happen if the UK votes to leave th EU. Firstly of course, he would lose his job.

But the biggest impact would be that EU companies would no longer be able to practice "passporting", i.e. have a registered office in Gibraltar in order to provide goods and services throughout the EU without having to get authorisation from individual member states. That would leave the Rock in a very hard place.

It will be very interesting if the UK votes to leave and the residents of Gibraltar vote to stay.

There are 6 MEP's representing Gib

The Jocks will have already voted themselves out of Europe before any referendum takes place by voting themselves independence ( Hopefully )

Two things that will never happen scotland to be an independent nation and the UK leaving the EU.
Good news for the tax dodgers of Gib.

Spain to maintain strict frontier controls, says Minister

http://www.gbc.gi/news/2802/spain-to...-says-minister

So Spain and the EU are saying that it is in fact all about tobacco. It would appear then that all Gib has to do is make the cross border tobacco traffic not worth doing and Spain will have lost its excuse.

Of whom two are UKIP? Should be fun come referendum time.

Do you really believe that it is all about tobacco? After all 4 months ago it was all about Spanish waters.

What do you suggest Gib should do about tobacco?

No - the root of the problem has nothing whatever to do with tobacco.

But as it said in the article "[The EU] has sanctioned the controls as a measure to combat tobacco smuggling".

Therefore to sort out the border farce (which the EU has sanctioned to combat tobacco smuggling) it doesn't really matter what the root of the problem is, all that has to be done is stop the cross border flow of tobacco and the EU would then not sanction the border controls. No tobacco smuggling, no controls needed, EU sanction withdrawn.

In theory anyway. In practice Spain would think up a new excuse but they might find it difficult and the world would see exactly what they were up to.

I suggest that Gib raises the duty on tobacco to make smuggling redundant. Why would anybody bother smuggling cigs if they were the same price as in Spain? I suppose that if it was thought that revenue would be lost from the cruise market they could set up some tobacconists in the port that only the cruise passengers could use.

I like the " In theory anyway "

The Cruise market is not a problem because you can have a Duty Free supply there in the port.

However this would set up a dangerous precident of one country setting prices in another, not far away from a United States of Europe governed and controlled from Brussels.

The track of the Ramon Margalef over the last 24 hrs or so.

Time the UK took a harder line. So it's all about cigarettes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...Gibraltar.html

If Gib Raises its taxes to UK levels , after all they keep insisting that they are Brits the smuggling will thenbe the other way round Spain into Gib. The Gib customs could then have as much fun as the Spanish are having now.
Anyway good luck in your first international.

No - we agree - it's not all about cigarettes.

We have been discussing that a possible solution to the border problem is about cigarettes though...

Not quite sure about the last bit Fred - which country would be setting prices in which other? I'm suggesting that Gibraltar should adjust its own duties/prices - nothing more.

Seems to me to be all about causing disruption and negative reactions, but to what ends ?

What on earth purpose can any of it serve other than diverting attention from the fact that they're deep in the mire and desperately trying to regain public support by whatever devious means they can dream up, whilst stuck between a rock and a hard-place.