HL Deb 26 April 1978 vol 390 cc1797-9

2.40 p.m.

Lord BOYD-CARPENTER

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any alteration of Spanish measures against Gibraltar has resulted from their recent talks in Paris with the Spanish Government.

The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)

My Lords, there has been no alteration in the Spanish measures since the talks in Paris, but I am glad to say that the improvement in the atmosphere to which I referred in answering the noble Lord's Question on 31st January has been maintained. It was agreed at the Paris meeting that working groups should be set up to study a number of subjects of mutual interest and that a further ministerial meeting would be held before the end of the summer.

Lord BOYD-CARPENTER

My Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that moderately encouraging Answer, may I ask whether he can give any indication of when it is likely that practical steps will be taken to alleviate a situation which he himself not very long ago described as intolerable?

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS

My Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that moderately encouraging Supplementary, I am in no position to prophesy the date on which these annoying restrictions will be lifted. However, some progress has been made in a practical way. The working groups to which I referred will have acting on them representatives from Spain, this country and Gibraltar. I believe that those groups will proceed practically and effectively on a whole range of subjects.

Lord BOURNE

My Lords, will the noble Lord the Minister tell me the answer to this question: Is it not true that the Spanish Government have made application to enter the Common Market? Will they not have great difficulty in satisfying the Treaty of Rome if they continue to operate a closed frontier?

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS

My Lords, certainly it would not be in the spirit of the Treaty of Rome. As to the legality of it, I should prefer to take this under advisement. What is true is that we, in common with our existing partners in the Nine, are favourably inclined towards the accession of democratic Spain to the Community. We hope that the conditions will be such that it will be found possible to include Spain not only in the political and economic structure of Europe but (who knows?) in the defensive structure of Europe. That, of course, is for the Spanish people and Government to decide. Anything which reduces the points of friction—for instance, Gibraltar —would help that accession, but I repeat what I said on the last occasion when we discussed this matter: the two must not be linked.

Lord HANKEY

My Lords, may we assume that, in any agreement which is ultimately reached, the Government will bear in mind the extreme importance of an efficient and up-to-date control of submarine traffic through the Straits of Gibraltar, and that whatever happens there, there should be apparatus and skilled genius available for doing it?

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS

My Lords, I am sure that those considerations will be borne in mind in regard to any arrangements that we may come to with Spain, and with Gibraltar about its future.