On 23 June 2016 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European
Union. The Prime Minister, , triggered Article 50 of the
Treaty on European Union on 29 March 2017 to begin the process of
exit.
The UK is currently in the process of negotiating its exit from
the EU, to take effect on 29 March 2019, a transition period and
the shape of our future relationship with the EU. As those
negotiations are ongoing, we do not yet know with any certainty
what the effects of Brexit on transport policy, industry,
services and operations will be.
This paper discusses some of the pertinent issues in the four
main transport policy areas: aviation, railways, roads and
road-based transport, and maritime.
Select committees across both Houses of Parliament have produced
reports on Brexit and its potential impacts on various aspects of
transport policy and have taken evidence from ministers about the
Government’s priorities.
To date it is probably fair to say that the most attention has
been given to the impact of Brexit on air travel, particularly
the low-cost market between the UK and the EU27 and how
UK-licensed airlines ,which operate across the EU, will be
affected by the UK’s possible exit from the European Common
Aviation Area. The Department for Transport has indicated that
this is a priority for them, along with international freight
transport. A Haulage Permits and
Trailer Registration Bill is currently before
Parliament to make provision about the international transport of
goods by road in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
Once the current arrangements have been transposed into UK law
via the European Union
(Withdrawal) Bill, the Government will then be able to
review what it wants to keep and what requires change. The Bill
creates a new category of domestic law for the UK: retained EU
law. Retained EU law will consist of all the converted EU law and
preserved EU-related domestic law which was in force on the day
before the UK left the EU. The Bill provides the legislative
mechanisms to create the post-Brexit constitution and statute
book rather than the substantive answers to questions as to what
these will look like.
