The European Union will investigate an artificial reef built off the coast of Gibraltar that has prompted a dispute between Britain and Spain, dpa quoted the bloc's executive as saying Tuesday. Spain says the reef, created by the tiny British outcrop on the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula, hampers access to fishing and damages the environment. But Gibraltar argues that its decision to position 70 concrete blocks on the seabed was aimed at protecting biodiversity. Madrid filed a complaint over the reef to the European Commission on July 31, according to commission spokesman Olivier Bailly. "As soon as we receive a formal complaint from the authorities of a member state we are obliged to open a specific complaint procedure which could ... lead to an infringement procedure," Bailly said. A separate EU fact-finding mission is due to visit the border between Gibraltar and Spain, where Madrid has imposed extra vehicle checks in response to the dispute, causing long traffic delays. The EU border mission, which both London and Madrid had agreed to, would be conducted under the auspices of EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and EU Customs Commissioner Algirdas Semeta, Bailly said. There were also fears that the border was being used for illegal goods trafficking, Bailly said. The issue had been raised during a phone conversation Monday between European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Bailly said it was not yet certain when the EU border mission would take place, nor whether it would begin next month as planned. Barroso has called on both Rajoy and British Prime Minister David Cameron to resolve the dispute "in a way that is in line with their common membership in the EU." Spain has long claimed sovereignty over the 6.8-square-kilometre territory.
