6. Member States may exempt from the application of paragraph 1 passenger ships providing maritime transport services within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 under public service obligations or public service contracts, operating before 12 October 2023, for the specific routes between their mainland ports of call and ports of call under their jurisdiction located on an island or the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. No such exemptions shall apply beyond 31 December 2029. Prior to the entry into force of those exemptions, Member States shall notify them to the Commission. The Commission shall publish those exemptions in the Official Journal of the European Union.
For the purposes of the application of this paragraph, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla shall be considered as ports of call located on an island.