The European Commission announced in a statement released today, Friday that it has filed a lawsuit against the United Kingdom (UK) for not returning earmarked aid to Gibraltar, an autonomous region of the British Crown.
"The European Commission decided to sue the United Kingdom in the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to return all government aid amounting to about 100 million euros, provided as tax exemptions to Gibraltar," the statement read.
The statement pointed out that the case dates back to the period when the United Kingdom was still a member of the European Union (EU) and subjugated to EU Union applied to it.
The European Commission said that such support does not comply with European Union rules in the area of government aid, and should therefore be returned.
The Spanish and British governments announced at the end of last December that they had reached a preliminary agreement regarding the status of Gibraltar in the post-Brexit period.
The Spanish Foreign Minister, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, confirmed that the initial agreement between the two parties stipulates that the territory on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula will remain part of the European Union agreements, such as the Schengen area, despite the completion of the UK's withdrawal from the bloc.
In turn, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab expressed the United Kingdom's steadfast support for the sovereignty of Gibraltar and affirmed that all parties seek to mitigate the repercussions of the end of the transitional period for the region, especially with regard to facilitating cross-border movement, pointing out that this is in line with the interests of people from both sides of the border.
The negotiations between London and Madrid focus on how to monitor the land borders between Spain and Gibraltar, which were excluded from the exit agreement reached by Britain and the European Union last week.
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