EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This means that, if the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified, the Union’s primary and secondary law would cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the withdrawal date. The United Kingdom would then become a third country.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union without an agreement would affect the continued provision of road and air transport services between the Union and the United Kingdom, which would no longer have a basis in Union law upon withdrawal. This would lead to the breakdown in connectivity and severe disruptions as regards road and air transport between the Union and the United Kingdom.

In the Commission Communication of 13 November 2018 on ‘Preparing for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 30 March 2019: a Contingency Action Plan’ the Commission set the principles underlying the contingency measures, including that they shall be strictly limited in time.

On 13 December 2018, the European Council (Article 50) reiterated its call for work on preparedness at all levels for the consequences of the United Kingdom's withdrawal to be intensified, taking into account all possible outcomes.

Consequently, the European Commission adopted on 19 December 2018 proposals for a number of contingency measures to ensure basic connectivity between the Union and the United Kingdom, including proposals for regulations ensuring basic road connectivity and basic air connectivity. In view of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal on 30 March 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted on 25 March 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/501 ensuring basic road connectivity (hereafter ‘Regulation (EU) 2019/501’) and Regulation (EU) 2019/502 ensuring basic air connectivity (hereafter ‘Regulation (EU) 2019/502’).

In line with the principles underlying the contingency measures, both regulations are limited in scope and are intended to apply for limited periods of time. In view of the initial date of withdrawal, Regulation (EU) 2019/501 applies until 31 December 2019, also in view of possible arrangements for basic connectivity to be made in the multilateral quota system of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT). Taking into account the seasonal specificities of the aviation sector and to facilitate the provision of air transport services, the period of application of Regulation (EU) 2019/502 was aligned to the expiry of the IATA winter season 2019/20.

Regulation (EU) 2019/501 and Regulation (EU) 2019/502 had been adopted shortly after a first short extension of the time period referred to in Article 50(3) TEU, until 12 April 2019. Following the adoption of these acts, based on a request of the United Kingdom, the European Council (Article 50) agreed on 11 April 2019 to further extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU until 31 October 2019.

Unless the United Kingdom ratifies the Withdrawal Agreement by 31 October 2019 or requests a third extension, to which the European Council (Article 50) agrees by unanimity, the period under Article 50(3) TEU will end then. The United Kingdom will then be a third country as of 1 November 2019 without an agreement ensuring an orderly withdrawal.

In the Commission Communication of 12 June 2019 on the ‘State of play of preparations of contingency measures for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union’, the Commission concluded that all EU-level preparedness and contingency measures are still fit for purpose. However, it is evident that the extension of the Article 50(3) TEU period by seven months until 31 October 2019 impacts certain already adopted contingency measures. This in particular affects contingency measures, such as Regulations (EU) 2019/501 and (EU) 2019/502, with a fixed date on which they cease to be applicable. In the Communication of 12 June 2019, the Commission already committed to consider whether these acts need a technical adjustment to take into account the new timeline of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal.

In particular in the case of Regulation (EU) 2019/501, if the original date of application until 31 December 2019 is maintained, in case the United Kingdom withdraws from the Union without an agreement on 1 November 2019, this would limit the period of application of the regulation to just two months, which would fail to achieve its intended purpose, insofar as it is linked to its period of application.

Similarly, Regulation (EU) 2019/502 would be applicable for less than half of the initially intended period of application if it would cease to apply on 30 March 2020, as is currently the case. This would significantly limit the period during which UK carriers would be able to operate flights into the Union.

It is necessary to ensure that the already adopted contingency regulations fully achieve their objectives as initially defined, insofar as linked to their period of application, despite the postponement of the date for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal. As a result, this proposal aims at extending the period of validity of Regulations (EU) 2019/501 and (EU) 2019/502 by seven months, corresponding to the length of the extension of the Article 50(3) TEU period. This extension is in line with the principles underlying contingency measures, in particular the principle that contingency measures should be strictly limited in time.

Consequently, it is proposed that Regulation (EU) 2019/501 ceases to apply on 31 July 2020, rather than on 31 December 2019. Furthermore, to ensure that the option provided under Article 2(3)(d) of Regulation (EU) 2019/501 is available for a meaningful period, in the order of magnitude initially intended, the period during which road passenger cabotage services can be performed in the border region of Ireland should be defined as six months starting from the date of application of that Regulation. This rule should replace the current reference to the end date of 30 September 2019. The period for the Commission to exercise delegated powers referred to in Article 11(1) of the Regulation should be adjusted to the new date on which that Regulation ceases to apply. The periods set out in Article 2(2)(b) of the Regulation should remain unchanged.

As regards Regulation (EU) 2019/502 and in accordance with the terms of this proposal, the Regulation would cease to apply at the latest on 24 October 2020, which is the last date of the IATA summer season for 2020. It would thereby maintain its initially envisaged period of application of twelve months.