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Schengen hot pursuit law does not apply to Gibraltar
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European Commission says it was not aware of Guardia Civil incident
The European Commission was not aware of the incident reported, MEP Graham Watson has been told in respect of the Guardia Civil issue when they invaded Gibraltar's territory.
Home affairs commioner Mrs Malmstrom said: Cross-border pursuit within the European Union is in general subject to strict conditions and procedures. The conditions can be of a general nature or specific for each Member State.
At European Union level, Article 41 of the Schengen Convention and Article 20 of the Naples II convention provide for a legal basis for cross-border pursuits.
Bilateral or multilateral agreements could provide an additional legal basis for general and specific conditions on cross-border pursuit between the concerned Member States, in conformity with those provisions.
However, in the Council Decision of 29 May 2000 on the UK and Schengen, hot pursuit and cross-border surveillance are excluded from the scope of application of Schengen rules to Gibraltar.
Accordingly any cross-border activities as described are to be considered bilateral issues as they are not covered by the provisions of Gibraltar's cooperation in Schengen matters.
In order to assist Member States' law enforcement agencies in executing cross border operations, a Manual on cross border cooperation has been developed within the Council with the support of the Commission. This Manual includes a specific chapter on cross border pursuit setting out the various legal options for cross border pursuit. National factsheets set out the conditions and specific procedures per Member State.
06-04-10
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