in-cyprus 15 March 2019
With the Brexit outcome still in the air as the House of Commons continues to debate London’s next step, the European Parliament on Wednesday approved urgent measures to ensure the least possible disruption.
The measures cover travel, transport, Erasmus, social security and fisheries measures.
At the request of the European Parliament and the Council, the European Commission had unveiled measures to mitigate the effects of a withdrawal of the UK from the EU without an agreement.
These measures include legal safeguards for current Erasmus students and teachers in or from the UK to complete their ongoing learning activity abroad, continued funding of EU programmes building cross-border and cross-community relations in Ireland and Northern Ireland and provisions for maintaining basic air and road freight and bus services between the EU and the UK. They should furthermore enable EU and UK fishing vessels to temporarily continue to operate in EU and UK waters.
Contingency measures do not replicate the benefits of membership or of a transition agreement. They are limited in time and adopted unilaterally by the EU. Some are adopted under the condition that the UK adopts similar measures (reciprocity).
The legislative safeguard measures adopted on Wednesday in the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU are:
Continuing the European cross-border cohesion and cooperation programmes PEACE IV between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland;
Continuing the European cross-border cohesion and cooperation programmes PEACE IV between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland;
- Allowing Erasmus students and teachers in or from the UK to complete their ongoing learning activity abroad;
- Ensuring EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU 27 will keep their social security benefits acquired before withdrawal;
- Temporary measures to ensure that operators avoid transport operations between the UK and the EU being completely interrupted, by allowing UK freight transport and bus and coach operators to provide services between the EU and the UK, as long as the UK provides equivalent access to EU operators;
- Temporary measures to allow UK airlines to provide services between the UK and the EU, as long as the UK provides equivalent access to EU companies;
- Temporary measures to extend the validity of rail safety authorisations to ensure continuity of train services between the EU and the UK;
- Authorisation for the export of certain items used for civilian and military purposes from the EU to the United Kingdom ;
- Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 391/2009 on assessing ship inspection organisations;
- Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1316/2013 on realigning the Trans-European Transport Network to ensure new maritime connections between Ireland and other EU countries and continuity of infrastructure funding, and
- Fishing authorisation for EU fishing vessels in UK waters and fishing operations of UK fishing vessels in EU waters.
