Lib Dem MEP Graham Watson: 'Gibraltarians are Europeans too'

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 14th Sep 2004

South West and Gibraltar Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson addressed the issue of Gibraltar in a debate on the floor of the European Parliament in Strasbourg today. The debate was on the programme of the European Parliament's new President, Josep Borrell. Mr Watson, who is leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), reminded Mr Borrell, a Spaniard of Catalan origin, that the European Parliament had helped win the right to vote in European elections for the people of Gibraltar. He also suggested that the European Union offered a new framework for defending the rights of Gibraltarians.

"This House has a particular duty to stand up for the rights of EU citizens. Sometimes that means defending their rights from encroachment by the EU's member states. I think of the people of Gibraltar, now represented in this House for the first time thanks to a judgement in the European Court of Justice."

"I am proud to be one of Gibraltar's representatives here, because only in Europe can Gibraltar look across the line at La Linea and at the British battleship in the Bay of Algeciras and finally see no contradiction. This House is the manifestation of the belief that we are better than our histories and more than our nationalities."

Speaking after the debate Mr Watson said:

"My intention was to remind the new President that he must speak for all Europeans as Europeans as well as national peoples. When the rights of Europe's citizens fall between the cracks of national government - as they have done for too long in Gibraltar - then the European Union must play a role. Our European identity is every bit as important as our national one."