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<p>The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), raised
the border delays with the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso,
last August, making clear that the Spanish checks were unjustified, politically motivated
and therefore unlawful. This led to the European Commission sending a border monitoring
mission to Gibraltar on 25 September. As a result, the Commission made a number of
concrete recommendations to both Spain and Gibraltar and requested an update within
six months. The Government of Gibraltar has taken action to implement the recommendations
made to them and we fully expect Spain to do the same. In December the Prime Minister
reminded Mr Barroso of the Commission's commitment to review the situation.</p><p>We
remain in frequent contact with the European Commission about the ongoing delays,
including on the need for the Spanish authorities to implement the EU's recommendations.
Senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials discussed border issues with European
Commission officials in January and February this year. The Commission has reserved
the right to pay another visit to the border in the future if appropriate and we will
support them in doing so.</p><p> </p>
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