There are nine multimodal EU Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) Core Network Corridors, which aim to streamline the coordinated development of the overall TEN-T Core Network. Of these nine Corridors, the “North Sea Mediterranean Corridor” or “NSMED Corridor” is the only corridor that includes the UK and Ireland. This Corridor map outlines a link from Ireland to the UK, through the UK land bridge, and on to continental Europe.
In the context of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, the European Commission has proposed an Amendment to Regulation (EU) No. 1316/2013 establishing the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which would realign the NSMED Core Network Corridor given that the UK will no longer form part of the Corridor or the TEN-T network. This proposal seeks to ensure that the NSMED Corridor does not become fragmented as a result of Brexit, and will take effect only when the CEF Regulation no longer applies to the UK.
Ireland welcomes the Commission’s proposal to revise the current alignment of the NSMED Corridor with linkages between Ireland (Cork and Dublin) and the ports of Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Antwerp. Ireland also echoed calls from France for further TEN-T links to French ports and Ireland has also made clear to the European Commission that it would support any further proposals from the Commission or other Member States to facilitate enhanced maritime connections between Member States that will mitigate the impact of the UK departure.
My Department continues to liaise with the European Commission in relation to the TEN-T network in the context of Brexit, including in relation to the EU’s proposal outlined above, and my Department has raised Ireland’s concerns about the implications for connectivity and trade in light of the UK's decision to leave the EU.
Ireland is very concerned about the impact of Brexit on the landbridge route to continental markets. The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) report, published in November 2018, estimates that the annual volume of Roll on/Roll off (RoRo) traffic using the landbridge to transport goods to and from the continent is approximately 3 million tonnes, which equates to approximately 150,000 Heavy Goods Vehicles. The total value of trade with the EU using the landbridge is estimated to be €21 billion, and may well be higher. This is a significant proportion of Ireland’s trade and a significant aspect of Ireland’s international road haulage sector.
As outlined in the study, the landbridge is a strategically important route to market for many Irish importers and exporters and certain sectors of the economy will be adversely affected by Brexit, mainly those that trade in time sensitive goods, e.g. Agri-food, seafood etc. The study recommends that Ireland’s continued access to the UK landbridge is protected in the ongoing EU-UK negotiations.
There is ongoing liaison between Ireland, the European Commission and other similar affected Member States on matters relating to the land bridge.
However, I have also assessed the maritime capacity for direct sailings between Ireland and continental EU ports as a potential alternative route for trade currently using the Landbridge. I recognise that the longer journey time on these direct routes may not offer a viable alternative and some trade will continue to use the Landbridge or, in the event of significant delays, may become unviable.
Based on consultations with the shipping sector and wider, I have advised Government that sufficient capacity should be available on direct routes to continental ports from end March 2019, and if demand for further capacity arises, the shipping sector can respond quickly. I am keeping this matter under review and will update Government again before end-February 2019.
