WRITTEN QUESTION E-0511/01

by Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Council

(23 February 2001)

Subject: TEN's and the development of the inland waterways

A report on bottlenecks in waterways has been submitted to the European Commission (Lille, 23 November 2000). The report reviews the status of the trans-European transport network of waterways five years after the European TEN framework decisions were put in place. The report reviews the history of the TEN policies, starting with the White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment (1992). The initial list of projects has been evaluated and defined in further detail by the Christophersen Group and has been shaped by the principles established at the Essen Council in 1994, which resulted in a list of 14 priority projects which does not contain any projects related to inland waterways. It is regrettable that waterways development finds itself at the bottom of the priority list.

The waterways net work urgently needs investment in its infrastructure in order to facilitate intermodal transport (sea-river, river-rail, river-road), to remove a number of existing bottlenecks and to construct a number of missing links that will enhance the network function.

In view of the further development of intermodal transport, what actions have the Ministers of Transport of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands taken to realise an integrated trans-European waterways network?

Are the Ministers aware of the fact that an optimised network for transport by container vessels necessitates a minimum height of bridges over TEN waterways of 7,10 million (3-layer containers).

There will be a meeting of European Transport Ministers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 5 and 6 September 2001 on Inland Shipping at which they will announce a Declaration of Rotterdam. Do the Ministers intend to include in their declaration the list of Priority projects for waterways development, their budgets and the time-schedules linked to such projects?

Are the Ministers prepared to take more measures that maximise the shift in freight transport from road to water, in order to reduce traffic density (and its consequences such as noise and air pollution) on certain motorways?

In view of the enlargement of the European Union, what actions have the Ministers in mind to realise optimal inland waterway transport on the Danube towards the Black Sea? (e.g. obstructions between Straubing and Vilshofen)?

Reply

(10 July 2001)

The question put by the Honourable Member contains many points that the Council can only take note of. It is not for the Council to comment on individual or joint activities by certain Member States or on the projects of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, which comprises 30 European States. Certain specific aspects raised by the Honourable Member are within the remit of the national, regional or even local authorities.

It should nevertheless be noted that one of the key strands of the European Union's transport policy aims at encouraging the expansion of inter-modal transport with a view to striking a better balance between the various modes of transport, giving preference to the safest and most environmentally-friendly ones.

The development of inland navigation plays a major role in this context. The Council recognises the importance of the Rhine-Main-Danube route which was identified as a priority corridor across Europe by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport in Crete in 1994 and in Helsinki in 1997. With the prospect of enlargement the Danube is playing an increasingly vital role as a communication channel linking the territory of the European Union with the candidate countries in the region, as well as with the Black Sea.

Moreover, it is frequently emphasised in the enlargement process, at the level of the Europe Agreement bodies that are developing and monitoring the pre-accession strategy, that what is sought is a multi-modal approach to developing the transport network. In this context, issues relating to navigation on the Danube are also broached, with regard to both managing the river in the candidate countries and to restoring navigation on the river after the Kosovo war.

In this connection the Council has supported the activities of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River with a view to rendering the river navigable again; in July 2000 the Council approved the Community contribution to the International Fund for Clearance of the Fairway of the Danube, representing 85 % of the estimated total cost of the project.