Regulation (EU) 2021/1701 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 September 2021 amending Regulation (EU) 2020/2222 to extend the period of validity of safety certificates and licences of railway undertakings operating through the Channel Fixed Link (Text with EEA relevance)

• Published date: 24 September 2021
• Date of Signature: 21 September 2021
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 339, 24 September 2021
• Subject Matter: Transport

24.9.2021 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 339/1

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REGULATION (EU) 2021/1701 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 21 September 2021

amending Regulation (EU) 2020/2222 to extend the period of validity of safety certificates and licences of railway undertakings operating through the Channel Fixed Link

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee,

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (1),

Whereas:

(1) In order to ensure connectivity between the Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the ‘United Kingdom’) after the end of the transition period referred to in Article 126 of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (2), as well as the continuity of the operations of the railway undertakings established and licensed in the United Kingdom which operate through the Channel Fixed Link, Regulation (EU) 2020/2222 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) has extended until 30 September 2021 the period of validity of the licences issued by the United Kingdom under Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) to railway undertakings established in its territory, as well as that of the safety certificates issued to those undertakings under Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) by the Intergovernmental Commission established pursuant to Article 10 of the Treaty between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic concerning the construction and operation by private concessionaires of a Channel fixed link, signed at Canterbury on 12 February 1986 (the ‘Treaty of Canterbury’).

(2) Decision (EU) 2020/1531 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) empowers France and the United Kingdom to conclude an international agreement supplementing the Treaty of Canterbury as regards the application of railway safety rules within the Channel Fixed Link. However, that agreement has not been concluded yet nor is it likely to be concluded soon.

(3) In those circumstances, France is negotiating with the United Kingdom a cross-border agreement pursuant to Article 14 of Directive 2012/34/EU regarding safety certificates. France has already negotiated such an agreement regarding licences of railway undertakings, as notified to the Commission on 1 June 2021 and as authorised by the Commission on 20 August 2021. The internal procedures required under the laws of France and the United Kingdom for the provisional application or entry into force of those agreements are expected to take six months to complete after the expiry, on 30 September 2021, of the

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