PURPOSE: to adapt the trans-European transport networks in the event of Brexit without agreement.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) 2019/495 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 with regard to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union.
CONTENT: this Regulation amends Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the mechanism for connecting Europe facility (CEF) to provide new maritime links between Ireland and other EU countries in the corridor of the North Sea-Mediterranean Central Network corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in the event that the United Kingdom leaves the EU without a negotiated agreement. It also introduces a limited number of targeted amendments to ensure the continuity of infrastructure investment and to provide legal clarity and certainty for infrastructure planning.
Realignment of the central network corridor North Sea - Mediterranean
In order to avoid a situation in which the North Sea – Mediterranean Core Network Corridor is separated into two distinct and unconnected parts and to ensure connectivity of Ireland with mainland Europe, the North Sea – Mediterranean Core Network Corridor shall include new maritime links between the Irish ports and the ports of Belgium, France and the Netherlands which are part of that Corridor.
The Regulation provides for the ports of Shannon Foynes, Dublin and Cork on the Irish side to be linked to the ports of Le Havre, Calais and Dunkirk (France), Zeebrugge, Ghent and Antwerp (Belgium) and Terneuzen, Rotterdam and Amsterdam (Netherlands) on this corridor in order to provide a direct link between Ireland and the rest of the EU 27.
Investment priorities
The Regulation introduces a new funding priority for the connecting Europe facility, namely investments into equipment and infrastructure for security and checks on external borders should be a prioritised action in the last phase of implementation of the current programming period of the Connecting Europe Facility. To address those needs, the Commission should propose a new annual work programme.
The Commission shall carry out, by 2021, an early revision of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 on the Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, to take into account possible changes in the flow of goods once the United Kingdom leaves the Union.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 28.3.2019. The Regulation shall apply on the day following the date on which the 2013 CEF Regulation ceases to apply in the United Kingdom.