United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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The looming Brexit unsettles the travel industry, vacationers and business travelers. Much is still unclear - such as entry conditions, driving and passenger rights or roaming costs. Air traffic is now at least for the summer holiday season now the all-clear: Even with an unregulated EU exit of Britain at the end of March, air traffic in Europe should remain largely intact and safety standards.
On both counts, EU negotiators have agreed on temporary emergency measures that still have to be formally confirmed by the Council of Member States and Parliament:
- Representatives of EU Member States and the European Parliament agreed Friday that air carrier safety certificates issued to companies in the UK continue to apply for nine months even after unregulated Brexit. This gives enough time to renew the certificates of the European aviation authority EASA - then taking into account the new status of the United Kingdom as a third country, said the Council of EU countries.
- Earlier, representatives of EU states and parliament had already agreed on temporary measures to avoid flight cancellations following an unregulated Brexit. According to the Council, the scheme aims to ensure that UK-licensed airlines can maintain links between the UK and the remaining 27 EU countries for up to seven months.
- In fact, only airlines that are majority owned by owners from the European Economic Area are allowed to fly in the EU. However, the contingency plan gives the companies a transitional period of six months to fulfill the conditions.
As the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported, the German travel industry is relieved. The agreement helps for the holiday season 2019, the newspaper quoted an aviation expert. EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc emphasized in the "FAZ" that these Brexit emergency measures could in no way replace the advantages of the single market. They are one-sided and temporary.
Five weeks before the planned British exit from the EU on 29 March, there is still no majority in London for the Brussels-agreed Brexit Treaty. Both sides therefore plan in the event that he no longer comes about. In that case, the negotiated transitional period, in which almost nothing changes for almost two years in everyday life, would be eliminated.
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