Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the merits of the freight connectivity proposals ratified by the European Union for enforcement in a situation where no withdrawal agreement is reached.

The Government’s preferred outcome remains that the UK should leave the EU in an orderly fashion with a Withdrawal Agreement. In this circumstance, the EU Regulations that cover freight connectivity (in particular the road measure, but also addressed by the aviation regulation in the context of air freight) would not need to come into effect. However, if the UK does leave the EU without having concluded a Withdrawal Agreement then the measure guarantees rights for UK carriers to carry goods to and from the EU until the end of December, which provides welcome certainty for UK carriers and their customers.