On Tuesday 12 February, the European Commission presented a proposal for a regulation to guarantee the validity of safety authorisations for rail transport between the EU and the United Kingdom in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The aim here is to extend the validity of authorisations granted under Directive 2004/49/EC to infrastructure managers operating in the United Kingdom and who are active on routes between the two territories. This is for a limited period of three months, a period which the Commission considers appropriate for considering and putting in place solutions to ensure that the security of the infrastructures in question comply with the standards of Union law over the long term.
The European Commission notes that this measure specifically concerns links via the Channel Tunnel.
The extension of the validity of the authorisations is subject to compliance by the relevant parties with the respective EU rules.
The European Parliament and the EU Council must now work on this text so that it can enter into force no later than 30 March 2019. If an agreement on the conditions for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union comes about, this text would not apply. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)