On Thursday 17 December, the European Parliament approved the proposal for a regulation presented by the European Commission at the end of November (see EUROPE 12611/7) to ensure the temporary extension, beyond the end of the post-Brexit transition period on 31 December, of certain authorisations, certificates and licences for rail operations in the Channel Tunnel.
The text was approved under the urgency procedure with 684 votes in favour, 3 against and 2 abstentions. On the EU Council side, the Member States’ Ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) had already approved the Commission’s initial proposal on 2 December without making any changes (see EUROPE 12614/22).
Other emergency measures concerning transport will also be put to the vote in plenary on Friday 18 December (see separate news item), to avoid an abrupt interruption of road and air traffic and to guarantee air safety in the event of the UK leaving without a deal on 1 January 2021 (see EUROPE 12620/6).
See the Commission proposal on certificates and licences: https://bit.ly/36dinuN (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)