SPEAKING NOTE FOR MR LUCE
INCORPORATION OF GIBRALTAR INTO BRITISH CITIZENSHIP
BASIS FOR GIBRALTAR'S ENTRY INTO THE EC
1.
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The Honourable Member for Lambeth Central suggested, if I understood him correctly, that through Gibraltar's incorporation in the EC and their inclusion in the definition of 'national' for
EC purposes we had already singled out Gibraltar for special treatment and so could or should do so in nationality terms.
2. The hon Gentleman said that 'It is not that this all fell automatically into line because of a certain clause in the Treaty of Rome; it was negotiated by the Government, or their predecessors, in the various negotiations and rethinkings that, took place as we edged our way into Europe, and the Government cannot pretend that it does not exist'. This is incorrect; and because so much emphasis has been put on the EC dimension in relation to Gibraltar I think it is right that I should explain clearly the true position.
It was not the Government or the UK who singled out Gibraltar for special treatment when negotiating accession to the Treaty of Rome. The original Treaty of Rome provided the opening for Gibraltar's entry. Article 227 (4) of the Treaty of Rome says: "The provisions of this treaty shall apply to the European territories for whose external relations Member States are responsible'. I understand that when the Treaty of Rome was drafted this particular clause had in mind the relationship between Italy and Trieste. Any such problem that existed was resolved before the Treaty of Rome was actually signed, but the clause nevertheless remained. But whatever: the original reason for the clause it existed and it provided for Gibraltar's entering the EC with the UK,
3.
[Mr Tilley] argued that our dependencies outside Europe could have been covered in this way since certain French non-European territories were covered, But the answer to this is really one that he gave, the French territories he referred to [Martinique, Guadaloupe, Reunion] are part of metropolitan Franch and as such automatically formed part of the EC with France: they were not
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