European Court Rules Against Gibraltar’s Separate Entity Status Claim

By Jess Plowden, Last updated Mar 1, 2021

A blow to post-Brexit hopes

The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) has lost a lengthy legal fight for exemption from UK Point of Consumption taxes.

The GBGA argued that the 15% PoC tax was in violation of EU law as it restricted cross-border trade within the EU.

The European Court of Justice (CJEU) however, ruled that the UK and Gibraltar are not two member states but a single entity for trading purposes, and therefore Article 56 of the EU treaty law does not apply.

This is a double blow as it casts into serious doubt any hopes Gibraltar might have had for a special status during and after Brexit negotiations when the UK leaves the European Union.

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