Regulation 2019/503 - Aspects of railway safety and connectivity with regard to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

LI 85/60

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The Treaties will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of entry into force of a withdrawal agreement or failing that, two years after that notification, namely from 30 March 2019, unless the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend that period.

In the area of rail transport, the impact of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union on certificates and authorisations can be remedied by the operators concerned, through various measures. Those measures include operators establishing themselves in one of the remaining Member States and obtaining appropriate licences and certificates there.

Specific agreements, as provided for in Article 14 of Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), would be necessary to address issues directly concerning cross border rail services and infrastructure, thereby ensuring continuity of such services and minimising disruption. In accordance with that Directive, such agreements would also ensure reciprocal treatment for Union undertakings and undertakings established in the United Kingdom using cross border infrastructure.

The conclusion of such agreements between the Member States concerned and the United Kingdom is only possible after the United Kingdom becomes a third country. In particular, the application of Union safety rules to the Channel tunnel is currently conferred upon an Intergovernmental Commission, set up under the Treaty of Canterbury signed on 12 February 1986, which in the safety field benefits from the advice of the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority. The system established by that Treaty would have to be adapted taking into account the status of the United Kingdom as a third country. In particular, the responsibility for the part of the Channel tunnel on the French territory should be under the sole control of a competent authority as defined in Article 3(7) of Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), in order to ensure that Union law is applied as such to that part of the tunnel. That competent authority could however, with a view to discharging its tasks in the best possible way and having regard to the common features of the tunnel on either side of the border and in order to facilitate consistency of decisions, take account of the opinions of a binational body established under an agreement between the two countries, such as the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority established by the Treaty of Canterbury, which advises the Intergovernmental Commission, or develop other means to cooperate with the authorities responsible for the part of the tunnel on UK territory.

The measures in this Regulation are conditional on safety standards and procedures, requirements for access to operating as a railway undertaking, and requirements for driving a...