If London fails to reach a Brexit agreement with Brussels by end-March, it may lead to a halt in rail communication with the continental Europe, documents published by UK Department of Transport revealed on Friday.
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2018) If London fails to reach a Brexit agreement with Brussels by end-March, it may lead to a halt in rail communication with the continental Europe, documents published by UK Department of Transport revealed on Friday.
The package of documents was the last in a series of recommendations that the UK Cabinet began to publish in September after the crisis in negotiations with the European Union.
"In order to operate a service legally, either domestic or cross-border, an operator must obtain certain licences, certificates and authorisations from an EU rail regulator and, in certain cases, from the safety authority in an EU country," the department said in a guidance for citizens and businesses in the event of a "no-deal" Brexit.
Currently, the railway connection between Britain and the continents is carried out by Eurostar, the high-speed trains running between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. The work of the company may be disrupted if the UK government fails to conclude relevant agreements with the EU countries in the absence of a general agreement on Brexit with the European Union.
However, UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab believes that the Cabinet will be able to prevent problems with the railway service, and people should not refuse to buy tickets.
"We are working, not just with the domestic preparations we need to do, but with the Belgians, the Dutch and the French to make sure that not just passengers going on holiday, but also goods can continue to flow," Raab told the UK parliament, as quoted by the Sky news broadcaster.
The government warned that in the case of a "no-deal," flights between the British Islands and the continent may be interrupted and trade in agricultural products may be disrupted. Also, the UK citizens will have to receive new documents for travel to Europe and pay for international roaming while in the EU.
The lack of a final Brexit deal also threatens to end agreements on the single energy market that regulate the electricity market in Northern Ireland, and it may cause problems for energy consumers in this region. The UK Department for Exiting the European Union, however, points out that it intends to work out a solution in collaboration with Dublin and Brussels to avoid such problems.
In case of a no-deal Brexit, the United Kingdom's trade agreements with more than 70 non-EU countries will automatically expire. This, among other things, will cause problems with UK citizens' access to their own accounts in various internet services, such as Spotify and Netflix, when traveling on the EU territory.
