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’) established an Intergovernmental Commission to supervise all matters concerning the construction and operation of the Channel Fixed Link.

On the basis of Regulation (EU) 2020/1530, and subject to an agreement envisaged by Decision (EU) 2020/1531 and concluded under certain conditions set out in that Decision, the Intergovernmental Commission was to remain the single safety authority for the entirety of the Channel Fixed Link while constituting, as regards the part of the Channel Fixed Link under the jurisdiction of France, the national safety authority within the meaning of point (7) of Article 3, of Directive (EU) 2016/798.It is, however, unlikely that the agreement envisaged by Decision (EU) 2020/1531 will have entered into force by the end of the transition period.

Without such an agreement, as from 1 January 2021, the Intergovernmental Commission will no longer qualify as a national safety authority within the meaning of point (7) of Article 3, of Directive (EU) 2016/798, as regards the part of the Channel Fixed Link under the jurisdiction of France. Safety authorisations and safety certificates issued by the Intergovernmental Commission will cease to be valid. The French national safety authority will become the competent national safety authority for the section of the Channel Fixed Link under the jurisdiction of France.

In light of the economic importance to the Union of the Channel Fixed Link, it is essential that the Channel Fixed Link continues to operate after 1 January 2021. To that end, the safety authorisation for the Channel Fixed Link infrastructure manager issued by the Intergovernmental Commission should remain valid for a maximum period of two months from the date of application of this Regulation, which is enough time to enable the French national safety authority to issue its own safety authorisation.

In order to ensure the connectivity between the Union and the United Kingdom, it is essential that the rail undertakings established and licensed in the United Kingdom continue to operate. To that end, the period of validity of their licences issued by the United Kingdom under Directive 2012/34/EU and of their safety certificates issued by the Intergovernmental Commission should be extended for a period of nine months from the date of application of this Regulation, which is enough time to enable the Member State concerned to take the necessary steps to ensure connectivity in accordance with Directives 2012/34/EU and (EU) 2016/798 and on the basis of the agreement envisaged by Decision (EU) 2020/1531.

In view of the urgency entailed by the end of the transition period, it is appropriate to provide for an exception to the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to lay down provisional measures on certain aspects of railway safety and connectivity with regard to the end of the transition period, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

This Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency and should apply from the day following that of the end of the transition period,