Draft Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

Margaret Ferrier Excerpts

Tuesday 13th July 2021 General Committees

[Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I thank the Minister for her opening remarks.

The regulations we are considering relate to an issue on which the Select Committee on European Scrutiny, of which I am a member, recently reported, namely, the Government’s plans for the operation of the channel tunnel now that the UK has left the EU. Before the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, EU law applied in specific areas on the fixed link, and Brexit necessitated new arrangements. The economic and societal importance of the channel tunnel cannot be overstated, and I am pleased that the Government have introduced the regulations.

I thank the Minister for writing to the European Scrutiny Committee and providing draft copies of the regulations. As the Minister will recall, she gave evidence to the Committee on the issue in December when we expressed our particular concerns about the European Commission’s suggestions for how the channel tunnel could operate after Brexit. As the regulations illustrate, a solution has been reached directly with France, and I note that all affected channel tunnel stakeholders and rail industry experts strongly support the regulations and recognise their importance to securing the continued smooth functioning of channel tunnel services. Any concerns that were raised were either outside the scope of the regulations or related to the geographical scope of recognition in the UK.

Can the Minister update the Committee on the progress of negotiations with France? Will further regulations be required to give effect to new arrangements for the channel tunnel? If so, can she provide further details?