Overeenkomst tussen de Regering van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden en de Regering van het Verenigd Koninkrijk van Groot-Brittannië en Noord-Ierland met betrekking tot grenscontroles op het treinverkeer tussen Nederland en het Verenigd Koninkrijk via de vaste kanaalverbinding

1. For the purposes of the present Agreement:
a) “Fixed Link” means the Channel Fixed Link as defined in Article 1 of the Treaty done at Canterbury on 12 February 1986, which entered into force on 29 July 1987.
b) “the Quadripartite Agreement” means the Agreement between the Government of the French Republic, the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland amending and supplementing the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the French Republic concerning Rail Traffic between Belgium and the United Kingdom using the Channel Fixed Link with Protocol, done at Brussels on 15 December 1993, done at Brussels on 7 July 2020.
c) “the Special Arrangement” means the Special Arrangement between the Government of the French Republic, the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security matters relating to trains using the Channel Fixed Link, done at Brussels on 7 July 2020.
d) “Host State” means the State in whose territory the border controls of the other Contracting Party are effected.
e) “Destination State” means the Contracting Party to this Agreement which is not the Host State, in whose territory a train is intended to terminate.
f) “Control Zone” means that part of the territory of the Host State and the trains, within which Officers of the other State are empowered to effect border controls, as delimited in accordance with arrangements made between the Contracting Parties pursuant to Article 4 of this Agreement.
g) “Officers” means persons empowered or authorised to conduct border controls.
h) “Competent authorities” means those organisations, government agencies or persons upon which statutory functions are conferred in order to perform a designated function in relation to the border controls referred to in this Agreement.
i) “Border controls on persons” means controls carried out to ensure that persons may be authorised to enter or leave the territory of the United Kingdom or the Schengen Area in accordance with the national legislation of the relevant Contracting Party or the Schengen Borders Code, as applicable.
j) “train” means an international train travelling between Dutch and British territory using the Fixed Link.
k) “Operator” means a rail carrier providing a scheduled high-speed international railway service via the Fixed Link.
l) “Individual Service” means a single train journey running in either direction between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

1. This Agreement shall exclusively apply to rail traffic between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom via the Fixed Link.
2. Security matters relating to rail traffic between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands via the Fixed Link are the subject of the Special Arrangement.
3. The Protocol and Annexes attached hereto shall form an integral part of this Agreement.

1. Officers of the United Kingdom shall be permitted to conduct border controls, or to make arrangements for such controls to be conducted, within a Control Zone delimited for that purpose in the territory of the Netherlands, in respect of passengers travelling on rail services within the scope of this Agreement and whose destination is stated to be the United Kingdom.
2. Officers of the Netherlands shall be permitted to conduct border controls, or to make arrangements for such controls to be conducted, within a Control Zone delimited for that purpose in the territory of the United Kingdom, in respect of passengers travelling on rail services within the scope of this Agreement and whose destination is stated to be the Netherlands.

1. The Contracting Parties or their Competent authorities shall:
a) designate the rail stations; and
b) delimit the Control Zones in which border controls referred to in Article 3 may be exercised.
2. The designation of the rail stations and the delimitation of the Control Zones shall be effected by way of an administrative arrangement pursuant to Article 15.
3. In an emergency, where the nature of that emergency is such that the local representatives of the authorities concerned are unable to provisionally bring into effect any necessary alterations to the delimitation of the Control Zones by mutual agreement, the Host State may bring into effect any such necessary alterations unilaterally with immediate effect. Any such alterations shall be brought to the attention of the local representatives of the authorities of the Destination State as soon as is practicable, in the event that it is not possible to do so immediately.

1. The Officers of the Destination State shall, in exercise of their national powers, be permitted to arrest or detain persons in the course of their functions only for the criminal offences specified in Annex A to this Agreement.
2. For the avoidance of doubt, while the Protocol to this Agreement shall cease to have effect from the date upon which the Quadripartite Agreement enters into force, the following shall continue to apply:
a) Officers of the Destination State may require a person to submit to further examination to ensure that such a person may be authorised to enter the territory of the Destination State. That person may bring this examination to an end at any time by discontinuing their wish to enter the territory of the Destination State; in such a case the person shall be directed to the Officers of the Host State who will take the necessary measures to submit the person to frontier controls.
b) Any person arrested or detained shall be handed over immediately, along with any seized goods, to the Competent authorities of the Host State. The Host State shall ensure that the Competent authorities are available to receive such a person and to take the necessary measures.

1. The Contracting Parties shall notify each other through diplomatic channels of any new procedural requirements relating to the identification of Officers assigned to carry out operations in the Control Zones on Host State territory.
2. The procedural requirements for Officers of the United Kingdom assigned to carry out operations in the Control Zones in the Netherlands are set out in Annex B to this Agreement. The Kingdom of the Netherlands may modify the content of Annex B by notifying the United Kingdom in accordance with paragraph 1.

1. The Contracting Parties shall:
a) designate and notify each other of the Competent authorities that are empowered to take decisions relating to the security of the trains;
b) designate and notify each other of the Competent authorities that are responsible for exercising the controls referred to in Article 3;
c) consult with one another to determine their respective requirements for accommodation, installations and equipment for the purposes of the exercise of border controls in line with Article 16 of the Protocol to this Agreement;
d) establish operational co-operation between their respective Competent authorities, including the holding of regular coordination meetings, operational meetings and the establishment of single points of contact;
e) ensure that Competent authorities shall be available during the operation of the controls referred to in Article 3;
f) ensure that passengers have access to the appropriate redress procedures for complaints relating to the operation of the controls referred to in Article 3, such complaints being the responsibility of the Destination State.

1. Officers of a Contracting Party, when acting in pursuance of this Agreement, shall be subject at all times to the applicable legislation in relation to the processing of personal data in the exercise of their functions.
2. In order to perform the tasks conferred on them by this Agreement the Officers of the Contracting Parties shall in accordance with this Agreement and the relevant national legislation regarding the exchange of information, share in a timely and accurate manner all necessary information.

1. Officers of the Destination State shall be allowed to wear and carry in the Host State such service weapons, ammunition and equipment as agreed with the Host State.
2. Any service weapons or ammunition may only be carried in a Host State subject to separate agreements being entered into between the Contracting Parties and provided that they may be carried by the Officers in the State of Departure in the territory of their own State.

1. Officers shall be exclusively answerable to their own Competent authorities in respect of the exercise of their functions in a Control Zone.
2. The authorities of the Host State reserve the right to request the authorities of the other Contracting Party to recall any of their Officers, or, in respect of an officer of the Destination State who is permanently resident in the Host State, that he/she cease the exercise of his/her functions under this Agreement. The Contracting Party receiving such a request shall comply with such a request forthwith.

1. Each Contracting Party shall bear responsibility for any costs associated with exercising border controls for which they are responsible, including, but not limited to, the costs of installing equipment and control bureaux and costs associated with deploying Officers. This paragraph is without prejudice to the Contracting Parties recovering those costs from an Operator as set out within this Article.
2. Each Contracting Party may set up national rules or arrangements to ensure that an Operator shall be required to pay the costs associated with exercising border controls in respect of any Individual Service that it runs to or from the territory of a Host State to the Contracting Party responsible for those costs.
3. When Officers exercise their functions in the Host State referred to in Article 3, the Destination State shall be liable in accordance with its national law for any damage caused by them during their functions.
4. Without prejudice to the exercise of its rights vis-à-vis third parties, each Contracting Party shall waive all its claims against each other for any damage it has sustained, except in cases of gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

A Protocol concerning the operation of controls in respect of passengers travelling on rail services falling within the scope of this Agreement is attached to this Agreement.

1. Without prejudice to the other provisions laid down by the Contracting Parties in this Agreement or the Protocol hereto, when a person submits a request for refugee status or any other kind of protection provided for by international law or in the national law of the Host State during border controls carried out at a station of the Host State by the Officers of the Destination State, this request will be examined by the authorities of the Host State in accordance with the rules and procedures of its national law.
2. The same provision will be applicable when the request is submitted after the person has passed through the border controls referred to in paragraph 1 above and before the train doors close at the last scheduled stop at a station located in the territory of the Host State. This provision is without prejudice to the rules of international law that are applicable to requests that are made after the doors have closed.

When exercising their functions in the Host State referred to in Article 3 within a Control Zone, Officers shall wear their national uniform or other visible distinctive insignia.

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Agreement or its Protocol may be the subject of agreements or technical or administrative arrangements between the Contracting Parties or their Competent authorities.

1. Either Contracting Party may at any time request a consultation, with a view to revising the provisions of this Agreement or its Protocol.
2. The Contracting Parties may make any amendments to this Agreement or its Protocol that they consider necessary, by mutual agreement.

Any disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement or its Protocol shall be settled by negotiation between the Contracting Parties.

With respect to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, this Agreement shall apply to the European part of the Netherlands.

1. This Agreement and its Protocol may be suspended in whole or in part by either of the Contracting Parties by sending a written notification to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels. The notification shall include the reasons for the suspension.
2. Suspension shall take effect on the first day following the expiry of a six month period after the date upon which the notification is received, unless the Contracting Parties mutually agree for the suspension to take effect sooner or paragraph 3 applies.
3. Either of the Contracting Parties to this Agreement may suspend this Agreement and its Protocol in whole or in part with effect from the same date as that upon which any contracting party to the Special Arrangement suspends that Arrangement, by sending a written notification to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels.
4. This Agreement and its Protocol may be terminated by either of the Contracting Parties by sending a written notification to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels.
5. Termination shall take effect on the first day after the expiry of a six month period following the date upon which the notification is received, unless the Contracting Parties mutually agree for the termination to take effect sooner or paragraph 6 applies.
6. Either of the Contracting Parties to this Agreement may terminate this Agreement and its Protocol with effect from the same date as that upon which any contracting party to the Special Arrangement withdraws from that Arrangement, by sending a written notification to the other Contracting Party through diplomatic channels.

1. The Contracting Parties shall notify each other, in writing through diplomatic channels, of the completion of their internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement and its Protocol.
2. The Agreement and its Protocol shall enter into force on the date of receipt of the later of the two notifications referred to in paragraph 1.
3. Part II of this Agreement shall cease to have effect on the date upon which the Quadripartite Agreement enters into force.
4. The Protocol to this Agreement shall cease to have effect on the date upon which the Quadripartite Agreement enters into force.

1. Either Contracting Party may, at the time of its signature or at any time thereafter, notify the other Contracting Party in writing that it will provisionally apply this Agreement and its Protocol, in full or limited to certain provisions, pending its entry into force in accordance with Article 20. Such provisional application shall take effect on the date of the later Contracting Party’s notification.
2. A Contracting Party may terminate the provisional application of this Agreement and its Protocol by giving written notice to the other Contracting Party. Such termination shall take effect on the first day following the expiry of a two month period after the date upon which the notification is received, unless the Contracting Parties mutually agree for the termination to take effect sooner.