(1)

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the ‘United Kingdom’) submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The Treaties will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of entry into force of a withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after that notification, unless the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend that period.

(2)

In order to prepare for the possibility that the United Kingdom could withdraw from the Union without an agreement on 30 March 2019, Regulation (EU) 2019/501 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) aiming to ensure basic road freight and road passenger connectivity between the Union and the United Kingdom, and Regulation (EU) 2019/502 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) aiming to ensure basic air connectivity between the Union and the United Kingdom, were adopted on 25 March 2019.

(3)

After agreeing a first extension on 22 March 2019, the European Council adopted Decision (EU) 2019/584 (5) on 11 April 2019, in which it agreed, following a further request by the United Kingdom, to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU until 31 October 2019. Unless a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom has entered into force by the date following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom, or the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU for a third time, the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU will end on 31 October 2019.

(4)

Regulation (EU) 2019/501 ceases to apply on 31 December 2019 and Regulation (EU) 2019/502 ceases to apply on 30 March 2020. In order to address the impact resulting from the extension of the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU by seven months, the period of application of those Regulations should be extended, taking into account the core principles underlying contingency measures and their originally intended periods of application.

(5)

Given the extension by seven months of the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU, the period of application of Regulation (EU) 2019/501 should be extended by seven months until 31 July 2020 in order to maintain a period of application of nine months from withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, as initially intended, and to ensure that, in respect of its period of application, that Regulation’s objective of temporarily maintaining road connectivity on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union is attained.

(6)

It is necessary to ensure that passengers can be picked up and set down in the border region of Ireland in the course of international regular and special regular passenger transport services between Ireland and Northern Ireland for the same period of six months as initially intended. Therefore, the reference to the end date referred to in point (3)(d) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/501 should be replaced by a reference to a period of six months from the date of application of that Regulation.

(7)

In order to ensure continuity in the picking up and setting down of passengers in the border region of Ireland in the course of international regular and special regular passenger transport services between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the validity of authorisations for United Kingdom coach and bus service operators referred to in Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/501 should also be adjusted to the new date on which that Regulation ceases to apply.

(8)

The period for the Commission to exercise the delegated powers referred to in Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/501 should be adjusted to the new date on which that Regulation ceases to apply.

(9)

Given the extension by seven months of the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU and in the absence of any adaptations, Regulation (EU) 2019/502 would be applicable for less than half of the initially intended period if it ceased to apply on 30 March 2020. That would significantly limit the period during which United Kingdom carriers would be able to operate flights into the Union. Consequently, in order to reflect the initially envisaged period of application, the period of application of Regulation (EU) 2019/502 should be extended by seven months. In order to coincide with the last day of the IATA summer season of 2020, Regulation (EU) 2019/502 should cease to apply at the latest on 24 October 2020.

(10)

In view of the urgency entailed by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, it was considered to be 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 TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

(11)

This Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and should apply from the day following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom. However, it should not apply if a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 50(2) TEU has entered into force by that date,

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1927/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) established the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) for the duration of the multiannual financial framework, from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013. The EGF was established to enable the Union to show solidarity towards workers who lost their jobs as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation.

(2)

The scope of the EGF was broadened in 2009 by Regulation (EC) No 546/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) as part of the European Economic Recovery Plan to include support to workers made redundant as a direct result of the global financial and economic crisis.

(3)

Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) established the EGF for the duration of the multiannual financial framework, from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2020. It also extended the scope of the EGF to cover not only redundancies resulting from major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalisation and redundancies resulting from a serious economic disruption caused by a continuation of the global financial and economic crisis addressed in Regulation (EC) No 546/2009, but also redundancies resulting from any new global financial and economic crisis. Furthermore, Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) amended Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 to introduce, inter alia, rules allowing the EGF to exceptionally cover collective applications involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in one region and operating in different economic sectors defined at NACE Revision 2 division level, where the applicant Member State demonstrates that such SMEs are the main or only type of business in that region.

(4)

On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the 'United Kingdom') submitted the notification of its intention to withdraw from the Union pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The Treaties will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of entry into force of a withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after that notification, unless the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend that period.

(5)

After agreeing a first extension on 22 March 2019, the European Council adopted Decision (EU) 2019/584 (7) on 11 April 2019, in which it agreed, following a further request by the United Kingdom, to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU until 31 October 2019. Unless a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom has entered into force by the date following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom, or the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU for a third time, the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU will end on 31 October 2019.

(6)

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union without a withdrawal agreement is likely to negatively affect some industries and services by leading to people working in those sectors being made redundant. This Regulation should amend Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 in order to specify that such redundancies fall within the scope of the EGF. This would ensure that the EGF can respond effectively by offering assistance to workers made redundant in areas, sectors, territories or labour markets subject to serious economic disruption due to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union without a withdrawal agreement.

(7)

In view of the urgency entailed by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, it was considered to be 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 TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

(8)

This Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and should apply from the day following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom. However, it should not apply if a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 50(2) TEU has entered into force by that date,

(1)

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 (TEU). The Treaties will cease to apply to the United Kingdom from the date of entry into force of a withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after that notification, unless the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend that period.

(2)

Following a request by the United Kingdom, the European Council granted a first extension on 22 March 2019 (3). On 11 April 2019, following a request by the United Kingdom, the European Council agreed (4) to extend further the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU until 31 October 2019. Unless a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom has entered into force by the day following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom, or the European Council, in agreement with the United Kingdom, unanimously decides to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU for a third time, the period provided for in Article 50(3) TEU will end on 31 October 2019, and the United Kingdom will withdraw from the Union without an agreement and will become a third country on 1 November 2019.

(3)

The Withdrawal Agreement published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 April 2019 (5) (the ‘Withdrawal Agreement’) contains arrangements for the application of provisions of Union law to the United Kingdom beyond the date on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom. If the Withdrawal Agreement enters into force, the common fisheries policy (CFP) will apply to the United Kingdom during the transition period in accordance with the Withdrawal Agreement and will cease to apply at the end of that period.

(4)

As provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (6) and in the United Nations Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of 4 August 1995 (7), the parties are obliged to ensure through proper conservation and management measures that the living marine resources are maintained at levels where they are not endangered by over-exploitation.

(5)

Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that the combined catch opportunities available to the Union and to the United Kingdom ensure sustainable management of the relevant stocks.

(6)

Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) sets out the rules for issuing and managing fishing authorisations for fishing vessels in waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of a third country and for third-country fishing vessels conducting fishing operations in Union waters.

(7)

Regulation (EU) 2019/498 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) amended Regulation (EU) 2017/1403 as regards fishing authorisations for Union fishing vessels in United Kingdom waters and fishing operation of United Kingdom fishing vessels in Union waters. That amendment would allow for the possibility of continued fishing access by Union and United Kingdom vessels to each other’s waters. A flexible system was also provided for which would allow the Union to exchange quotas with the United Kingdom after the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom. The period of application of those provisions needs to be extended to enable the issuing of fishing authorisations for fishing activities in each other’s waters in the absence of a fisheries agreement concluded with the United Kingdom as a third country, provided that the management of the relevant stocks continues to be sustainable and in accordance with the conditions set out in the rules of the CFP and in the Council Regulations fixing fishing opportunities.

(8)

The fishing opportunities for 2019, and for deep-sea fish stocks for 2019 and 2020, were set (10) while the United Kingdom was still a Member State. Those arrangements and the fishing opportunities set out therein provide the basis for sustainability of those fishing activities. For all other fishing opportunities for 2020, it is essential to ensure the sustainability of the fishing opportunities.

(9)

Should the Withdrawal Agreement not be ratified by 31 October 2019, and should the United Kingdom withdraw from the Union on 1 November 2019, it may not be feasible for the Union and the United Kingdom to conclude a common arrangement on the fishing opportunities for stocks concerned for 2020 in time for the meeting of the Council of Fisheries Ministers in December 2019, which is scheduled to set the fishing opportunities for the following year. The absence of a common arrangement, however, does not as such prevent the Union and the United Kingdom from granting access to each other’s waters. In that case, they would be able to issue fishing authorisations to each other’s fishing vessels provided they both meet the conditions for sustainable management of the relevant stocks.

(10)

Therefore, in the light of the provisions and conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/2403, and as a prerequisite for the issuing of fishing authorisations, the Union will need to assess whether the combined effect of fishing operations established in management measures put in place by the Union and the United Kingdom for 2020 is in line with the sustainable management of the stocks concerned.

(11)

The consistency of the combined fishing opportunities of the Union and the United Kingdom with the sustainable management of the stocks concerned is to be assessed in the light of the best available scientific advice for the stocks concerned, the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) as well as the criteria and parameters set out in applicable management plans in force and the relevant Council Regulations fixing the fishing opportunities for 2020.

(12)

In the event that such consistency can be ensured, it is important to maintain the possibility for arrangements for continued reciprocal fishing access by Union and United Kingdom fishing vessels to each other’s waters in 2020, given the importance of fisheries for the economic livelihood of many coastal communities.

(13)

Therefore, the application of all measures concerning fishing operations provided for in the contingency measures adopted under Regulation (EU) 2019/498 should be extended to cover the year 2020, and Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 should be amended accordingly.

(14)

The territorial scope of this Regulation and any reference to the United Kingdom therein does not include Gibraltar.

(15)

This Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency and should apply from the date following that on which the Treaties cease to apply to the United Kingdom, unless a withdrawal agreement concluded with the United Kingdom has entered into force by that date. It should apply until 31 December 2020.

(16)

In view of the urgency entailed by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union, it was considered to be 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 Union, annexed to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.

(17)

In order to enable both Union and United Kingdom operators to continue to fish in accordance with the relevant fishing opportunities allocated to them, fishing authorisations for activities in Union waters should only be granted to United Kingdom fishing vessels if and in so far as the Commission satisfies itself that the United Kingdom grants access rights to Union fishing vessels to conduct fishing operations in United Kingdom waters on the basis of reciprocity,