Decision (EU) 2024/867 empowering the French Republic to negotiate, sign and conclude an international agreement on the safety and interoperability requirements within the Channel Fixed Link

to empower the French Republic to negotiate, sign and conclude an international agreement on the safety and interoperability requirements within the Channel Fixed Link. PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the Channel Fixed Link is a unique railway link involving a single, complex engineering structure situated partly in the territory of the French Republic and partly in a third country, namely the United Kingdom. Since the end of the transition period provided for by the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, the infrastructure manager of the Channel Fixed Link and the rail undertakings operating in the Channel Fixed Link are subject to two separate legal frameworks as regards railway safety and interoperability. The European Parliament adopted by 636 votes to 2, with 3 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council empowering the French Republic to negotiate, sign and conclude an international agreement on the safety and interoperability requirements within the Channel Fixed Link. The European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure. The proposed decision aims to set out the conditions pursuant to which the French Republic is empowered to negotiate, sign, conclude and in future amend an international agreement with the United Kingdom on the safety and interoperability requirements in the Channel Fixed Link, as well as cooperation between the Etablissement Public de Sécurité Ferroviaire (EPSF) and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). In respect of the part of the Channel Fixed Link under the jurisdiction of the French Republic, the agreement should comply with the following conditions: (a) The agreement is compatible with Union law in all respects. Compliance with the principles of the primacy and, where applicable, direct effect of Union law should be ensured; (b) Disputes between the French Republic and the United Kingdom concerning the application of the Agreement should not be submitted to the arbitral tribunal set up under Article 19 of the Treaty of Canterbury or to any other means of legally binding dispute settlement; (c) The French Republic should retain the right to unilaterally suspend or terminate the agreement, with a view to ensuring the full, correct and expeditious application of Union law in the part of the Channel Fixed Link under its jurisdiction; (d) The agreement provides for a mechanism for its amendment, in order to adapt it to changes in Union law; (e) The independence and the respective powers granted by Union law to the European Union Agency for Railways and the EPSF, as national safety authority within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/798, should be ensured. In order to account for possible future changes of Union law, in particular of Regulation (EU) 2016/796 and Directives…

Official title: Decision (EU) 2024/867 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2024 empowering the French Republic to negotiate, sign and conclude an international agreement on the safety and interoperability requirements within the Channel Fixed Link

Summary extracted from the European Parliament's own per-stage procedure record. Data © European Union (Decision 2011/833/EU). Methodology.