Question 14 December 2015 J Girling (ECR-Con)
Subject: Gibraltar Border Crossing
I have been contacted by constituents in Gibraltar who have raised concerns about the adequacy of the border crossing facilities for the elderly, the disabled and people with nonmachine readable passports. There is also frustration owing to the fact that the passport machines are often faulty or inadequate.
Does the Commission plan to conduct any unannounced checks on the border? There is concern that previous checks, when notification was given in advance, resulted in an improved border process on the day in question which did not reflect the usual daytoday situation.
Answer 1 April 2016 Commissioner Avramopoulos
The Spanish authorities have recently installed Automatic Border Control (ABC) gates on entry and exit at the border between Spain and Gibraltar. Only holders of EU passports and Spanish eID cards are eligible for using these gates. For other pedestrians, a manual checking booth is available. According to the figures provided by the Spanish authorities, approximately 20% of the persons eligible for using the ABC gates fail to see their documents authenticated: this failure is principally due to a damaged electronic chip. This figure will go down progressively when the damaged edocuments are renewed and a habit of using the gates is installed.
In October 2015, the Commission carried out a third onspot visit to the border crossing point of La Linea de la Concepcion. The Commission is regularly informed about the situation at the SpanishGibraltar border, including on delays upon entry or exit from Spain. It is committed to continue monitoring this matter and further contribute to improving the situation of the many citizens crossing this border daily. By definition the Commission cannot communicate on possible new, unannounced visits at the border crossing point.