Gibraltarians, although EU citizens under the British Treaty of Accession, were unable to vote in elections for the European Parliament.
The reason given was that the British Government had failed to make the necessary legal arrangements and declined to do so.
In 1998 Lord Bethell moved an amendment to the European Parliamentary Elections Bill in the House of Lords, to make a provision for the right to vote for residents of Gibraltar, but it was defeated by the Labour Government, supported by the Liberal Democrats.
[1] The Gibraltar Self-Determination Group (SDGG) took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, and won a landmark decision.
[2] As a consequence of this decision in 1999 and after consultation by the Electoral Commission, Gibraltar was included in the South West England constituency for the European Parliament election in 2004.