Commission spokespeople aren’t often asked which side they would take if two member countries went to war. But as tensions flared between London and Madrid at the weekend over the future of Gibraltar, Margaritis Schinas, the Commission’s chief spokesman, was asked to pick sides.
“The European Commission takes the side of dialogue and cooperation, which is our way of doing things,” Schinas said.
He added that the draft guidelines of the Council published on Friday — which allow for Spain to sign-off on any change of status regarding Gibraltar in the Brexit talks — “have the full backing of the European Commission” and “the full support” of President Jean-Claude Juncker and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
“We are 100 percent behind the draft political guidelines,” Schinas said.
In other news…
Juncker and Donald Tusk sent a joint letter congratulating Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, who claimed a resounding first-round victory in Sunday’s presidential election in Serbia.
The college of commissioners will meet on Tuesday in Strasbourg. Items on the agenda include discussions on two “reflection papers” on the EU’s future — one on the European social dimension and the other on eurozone reforms.