The EU is to send a "fact finding mission" to the Gibraltar-Spain border to investigate checks imposed on the Spanish side amid continuing tension between the UK and Spain over the issue. The warship HMS Westminster has arrived in the area.
Sir Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar, said he has written to the president of the EU Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, to complain about the treatment his constituents are receiving.
The MEP has asked for European monitors to be sent to the border:
It may be a pre-planned training exercise but what timing: UK warships sail through disputed water to Her Majesty's naval base on Gibraltar.
Spain could damage to the economy in Gibraltar, but in doing so it would harm its own, so a further escalation of threats is unlikely.
The PM has said he is seriously concerned by Spain's plans to introduce a levy at the border with Gibraltar.