Regulation (EU) 2020/1530 amending Directive (EU) 2016/798, as regards the application of railway safety and interoperability rules within the Channel Fixed Link

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Series Details L 352, Pages 1-3
Publication Date 22/10/2020
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Summary:

Regulation (EU) 2020/1530 - adopted by the co-legislators on 21 October 2020 -  introducing amendments to Directive (EU) 2016/798 on railway safety.

Further information:

Directive (EU) 2016/798 requires each Member State to establish a national safety authority to be entrusted with the tasks specified in relation to railway safety. In accordance with that Directive, a national safety authority may be a body established unilaterally by the Member State concerned or, alternatively, a body entrusted by several Member States with those tasks in order to ensure a unified safety regime.

The Treaty of Canterbury signed by France and the United Kingdom in 1986 established an Intergovernmental Commission to supervise all matters concerning the construction and operation of the Channel Fixed Link. Following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, it became necessary to ensure the safe and efficient operation of that Link by retaining the Intergovernmental Commission as the single safety authority responsible for the whole of that infrastructure.

To that end, Decision (EU) 2020/1531 empowers France, under certain conditions, to negotiate, sign and conclude an international agreement, supplementing the Treaty of Canterbury, under which the Intergovernmental Commission is retained as the single safety authority competent for the application of Union law within the Channel Fixed Link. To this effect, specific rules should be established regarding specific safety authorities, as well as regarding the duties of the Member State concerned to take all the necessary measures to ensure that Union law is applied at all times by the specific safety authority or, failing that, by its national safety authority.

The objective of this Regulation is to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the Channel Fixed Link after the end of the transition period agreed by the United Kingdom and the European Union upon the country's EU withdrawal. The proposal was first tabled by the European Commission on 27 July 2020. The European Parliament adopted this proposal on 8 October, followed by the Council of the European Union on 14 October. It was formally signed on 21 October 2020 and published in the Official Journal on the following day.

Source Link http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/1530/oj
Related Links
News
The Guardian, 30/07/2020: Brexit: Boris Johnson faces Eurotunnel test https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/30/brexit-european-court-row-puts-eurotunnel-operations-at-risk

Official
EUR-Lex: COM(2020)623: Proposal for a Regulation amending Directive (EU) 2016/798, as regards the application of railway safety and interoperability rules within the Channel Fixed Link https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2020:623:FIN
Council of the European Union: Press Release, 09/09/2020: EU-UK relations: Coreper agrees mandate on Channel tunnel railway safety https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/09/09/eu-uk-relations-coreper-agrees-mandate-on-channel-tunnel-railway-safety/
Council of the European Union: Press Release, 14/10/2020: EU-UK relations: Council adopts Channel Tunnel railway safety measures https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/10/14/eu-uk-relations-council-adopts-channel-tunnel-railway-safety-measures/
French Embassy in London: Newsroom, 14/10/2020: EU adopts Channel Tunnel railway safety measures https://uk.ambafrance.org/EU-adopts-Channel-Tunnel-railway-safety-measures

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Record URL https://www.europeansources.info/record/?p=523097