Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on "The future of the trans-European inland waterway network"
Date: 2002-01-16
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: carriage of goods, enlargement of the Union, network of navigable waterways, trans-European network, transport policy

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Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on ‘The future of the trans-European inland
waterway network’

(2002/C 80/04)

On 31 May 2001, the Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of its Rules of Procedure,
decided to draw up opinion on The future of the trans-European inland waterway network.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 18 December 2001. The
rapporteur was Mr Levaux.

At its 387th plenary session on 16 and 17 January 2002 (meeting of 16 January) the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following opinion by 90 votes to two.

1.

Introduction

The European Union is therefore confronted with a

1.6.
two-fold challenge:

The Committee wishes to examine the conditions for
1.1.
the trans-European inland waterway
the development of
network to ensure that
is able to
accommodate the sharp increase in demand for goods trans-
port.

in 20 years’

time it

For the most part, the trans-European inland waterway
1.2.
network stretches over six countries: Belgium, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, France, Germany and Austria, whose networks
form an interconnected whole. Other countries too have
the United Kingdom,
Italy, Finland,
significant networks:
Ireland and Portugal.

— how to assure the sustainable development of trade and
thus meet the sharply rising demand for goods transport;
and

— how to protect the environment, by restricting green-
house gas emissions and cutting down on the use of non-
renewable fossil fuels.

1.7. Wherever possible, waterways should be used for
goods transport as,
in conjunction with other traditional
modes of transport, they have a number of advantages in
terms of cost, environmental protection and reliability. The
fourth section of this opinion will describe these advantages in
more detail.

1.3.
Following enlargement, the network will cover six
more countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Rom-
ania, Bulgaria and Poland, which have a network totalling
9 000 km of inland waterways.

Studies have been conducted over a number of years

1.8.
to assess the benefits of goods transport by waterway.

1.4.
The economic growth of the European Union and
enlargement will encourage trade over the coming decades
and will lead to an increase of approximately 40 % in the
volume of goods transport from 2010 onwards. Over the
following decade the reinforced effects of enlargement and the
need to open up to trade with the Russian Federation, Ukraine
and the other eastern countries will have a multiplying effect
on trade and thus on the demand for goods transport. The
existing networks, roads and railways will not be able to
absorb these increases in traffic, even if they are upgraded.

1.9.
In 1996, on a proposal from the Commission, the
European Parliament and the Council adopted Community
guidelines for the establishment of a trans-European transport
network including the inland waterway network. The objec-
tives to be met in relation to the existing network are:

— the bottlenecks that need removing;

— the wide-gauge links to be built rapidly in order to join
up the following river basins (Seine-North, Seine-East,
Moselle-Saône, Rhine-Rhône, Elbe-Oder-Danube and
Danube-Po);

At the same time,

1.5.
it will be necessary to reduce
pollution, especially that produced by transport. Most
countries
are gradually working in this direction by
implementing the Kyoto protocol.

— the connections to be made with the networks of third
countries in Eastern Europe, in particular via the Rhine-
Main-Danube, or towards Poland, east of Berlin (purely
indicative).

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1.10.
The Commission White Paper on ‘European transport
policy up to 2010’, published on 12 September 2001, suggests
policy lines for making better use of inland waterways.

1.11.
opinions:

The Committee, too, has published a number of

— own-initiative opinion, 14 September 1994 (1)

developed. It would basically be a matter of cataloguing sites
that linked up hinterlands with coastlines in bygone times. In
Decision No. 1346/2001/EC (6), the Council and European
Parliament identified these coastline-hinterland links on maps.
Working from that starting point, the Committee would like
to see an individual study of each of these sites, in order
to assess the technical and financial conditions for their
redevelopment, with a view to promoting trade links as far
inland as possible.

— opinion, 13 September 1995 (2)

— opinion, 13 September 1995 (3)

— opinion, 23 November 1995 (4)

— opinion, 2 December 1998 (5).

Recently,

in France,

1.12.
in an opinion dated 21 May
2001, the Paris region’s economic and social council came out
the Seine-Nord link, which will secure the
in favour of
continuity of the trans-European network by removing a
major bottleneck.

2. Scope of this opinion

2.1.
This opinion focuses mainly on the inland waterways
that are considered to be a means of goods transport between
the six European Union countries mentioned above (pt. 1.2),
while also taking into account probable trends with enlarge-
ment.

The Committee would however mention that there are
2.2.
also major navigable waterway networks in Italy, the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal and Finland. In these countries, the
use of
these contained networks is considered a serious
alternative or complementary option. The development of
such networks should also be studied and encouraged for
goods transport as well as tourism.

2.4. More generally, inland waterway transport should be
seen as a natural extension of coastal shipping and combined
inland-waterway and sea transport. The Committee would
suggest that any initiative aimed at the ongoing integration of
these modes of transport should be encouraged. Container
transport has great potential in this respect as it minimises
interruptions for loading, unloading and reloading.

2.5.
The Committee would also mention that the European
inland waterway network is not made up of wide-gauge
channels alone. It includes several thousands of kilometres of
canals whose capacity is smaller but which can carry significant
volumes of local transport. In France, for instance, these canals
account for over 10 % of the total tonnage transported.

Furthermore, this part of the network is of considerable
2.6.
interest for tourism activities, which in many countries have
expanded in a major way over the last 10 years. Inland
waterways are also very often used for irrigation, for regulating
the discharge from catchment areas and for supplying water
for cooling systems, electricity generation plants and industrial
activities.

2.7.
The Committee would therefore stress that, between
now and 2020, consideration must be given to maintaining,
modernising and in some cases renewing all wide-, medium-
and narrow-gauge waterways with a view to restoring and
preserving their full potential.

3.

Inland waterway transport — a real option

Furthermore, with a view to efficiency throughout the
2.3.
inland waterway network, the Committee recommends that
all
the options for entering inland areas from coastlines
using available inland waterways should be researched and

The Committee would point out that all too often
3.1.
goods transport by waterway is an option whose importance
is underestimated.

(1) OJ C 393 of 31.12.1994, p. 60.
(2) OJ C 301 of 13.11.1995, p. 20.
(3) OJ C 301 of 13.11.1995, p. 19.
(4) OJ C 39 of 12.02.1996, p. 96.
(5) OJ C 40 of 15.02.1999, p. 47.

(6) Decision No 1346/2001/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 22 May 2001 amending Decision No 1692/96/EC
as regards seaports, inland ports and intermodal terminals as well
as project No 8 in Annex III (OJ L 185 of 6.7.2001, p. 1) — ESC
opinion: OJ C214 of 10.7.1998, p. 40.

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3.2.
In 1999, inland waterways held a 6,8 % share of the
European Union’s goods transport market with a total of
120,4 billion tonne-kilometres.

4.2.
Their energy consumption is low compared with other
modes of transport, as each boat or train of craft can replace
several hundred lorries or wagons. With five litres of fuel, it is
possible to carry one tonne of goods 500 km. The same tonne
would travel 330 km by rail and only 100 km by road.

Road transport accounted for 74,7 %, rail for 13,4 %

3.3.
and pipelines for 5,1 %.

3.4.
To reduce road use for goods transport, the Committee
would suggest that more must be done to integrate competing
modes of transport more effectively. Taken together, rail,
pipelines and inland waterways currently carry a quarter of
goods traffic and have reserve capacity that could be expanded
if they were made to complement each other better.

3.5.
Inland waterways are always compared to other forms
of goods transport in a global manner. However, whereas road
and rail networks cover the majority of the European Union,
inland waterway networks run through only a relatively small
area of a few European countries or regions.

3.6.
This means that inland waterways’ share of the market
is under-estimated, and comparisons between modes of trans-
port ought to be adjusted accordingly. Where inland waterways
exist, they claim a large market share. For instance, measured
in tonne-kilometres, the market share in 1999 was 11,8 % in
Belgium, 12,8 % in Germany and 41,6 % in the Netherlands.

In France,

3.7.
if comparisons are made for individual
‘départements’ served by waterways, the market share reaches
9 %, with high points of 15 % in the Paris basin and 20 % in
the Rhine-Moselle basin. It should also be noted that the fact
that the French river basins are not interconnected with each
other or with the European wide-gauge networks is a grave
disadvantage to inland waterways.

3.8.
Lastly, in the countries bordering the Danube, where
the collapse of three bridges has meant that river traffic is
temporarily only possible on Sundays, the financial losses for
shipping companies, shipyards and ports are estimated at
EUR 30 million per month.

4.

Inland waterways and their plus points

4.3.
Furthermore, the studies available show that major
energy savings could be made by encouraging research into
improving engine performance. The development of more
efficient engines will happen as and when the existing fleet is
renewed. This will occur more rapidly once the market grows.

Inland waterways are also particularly environment-
4.4.
friendly because they do not use much space or generate much
noise. The quality of boat engine fuel should nevertheless be
improved.

4.5.
Inland waterways offer the best possible safety guaran-
tees and accidents are extremely rare. That makes them
especially appropriate for transporting dangerous products.

4.6. With an average speed of 15 km per hour, inland
waterway transport is comparable with rail transport and even
road transport over certain distances. It also offers a high level
of consistency in journey times and operates around the clock,
providing arrangements are made for locks to be manned
permanently, either by alternating shifts or through greater
automation.

4.7.
Inland waterways are especially well suited to meeting
the requirements of intermodality with all other modes of
transport at specially-designed platforms. For instance, there
are plans to build a facility at Rotterdam port to accommodate
container ships carrying between 10 and 12 thousand units.
The containers could then be sent on to their final destination
by road, rail or waterway.

4.8.
Container transport, which grew remarkably fast over
the last decade, meets most of the new demands in the area of
goods transport. There are no consolidated European statistics,
but
take for instance the significant rates of growth for
container transport:

— in France: from 1999 to 2000, overall growth of +56 %,

the Rhine accounting for 63 %;

4.1.
In the Committee’s view, inland waterway transport is
the most environmentally-sound form of goods transport,
owing to both the low level of pollution produced by boats
and their low fuel consumption levels.

— in the Netherlands and Belgium: from 1997 to 1999,
overall growth of +41 %, with 2 902 million TEU. The
forecast for 2020 is in the 4,5 to 7,5 million TEU bracket.

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4.9.
Inland waterways will enable this growth to continue
and several European centres are already planning new invest-
ments to receive and handle a higher number of containers.
(Antwerp is building a new terminal that will handle 5000 con-
tainers per day. A decision was taken in October 2001 to build
a terminal in Strasbourg to handle barges loaded with four
rows of containers.)

4.10.
Lastly, although inland waterway transport cannot
provide the door-to-door service offered by road transport, it
is on a par with rail transport. Individual waterway links can
be built to access production and delivery sites in a similar
way to rail. This requires a policy of setting up and developing
multimodal platforms and industrial sites in areas accessible
by waterway.

5. The Commission White Paper on ‘European transport

policy up to 2010: decision time’ (1)

5.1.
In the White Paper, the Commission sets out its broad
policy lines and states specifically: ‘As demand for transport
keeps increasing, the Community’s answer cannot be just to
build new infrastructure (...). The transport system needs to be
optimised to meet the demands of enlargement and sustainable
development.’

Subject to the opinion that will be issued on the White
5.2.
Paper as a whole, the Committee subscribes to this view. It
believes that the principle of optimisation should be applied
to all modes of transport, starting with inland waterways, the
utilisation of which meets the economic, environmental and
social demands of sustainable development.

— setting up specific financing arrangements for invest-

ments in inland waterways;

— building the objectives to be met to modernise the
existing network into a realistic timescale of 20 years,
while looking more generally at joining up the networks
and filling in the last missing links by 2040. These
deadlines are compatible with the nature of the invest-
ments needed, providing the decision-makers give their
full commitment to the plan.

5.4.
The Committee regrets that the Commission’s white
paper does not include a separate chapter for inland waterways
as it does for road, rail and air transport. As a result, inland
waterways appear to be confined to the role of a supplement
or top-up for other modes of transport. The white paper
addresses inland waterways in Chapter 2,
‘Linking up the
in close connection with cabotage,
modes of
which along with the ‘motorways of the sea’ is one of the
Commission’s stated priorities.

transport’,

6. The Committee’s suggestions and recommendations

6.1.
The stakes for goods transport over the next two
decades will be high. The priority will be to meet the transport
needs generated by the economic development of the European
Union.

The success of enlargement also depends on meeting
6.2.
demand for transport so that the new member countries have
every opportunity to trade.

Inland waterways have considerable reserve capacity
5.3.
for goods transport, providing useful measures are taken at a
price that is compatible with the resulting improvement in
network productivity. The Committee supports a number of
the measures included in the White Paper for encouraging the
development of inland waterway transport:

6.3.
At the same time, trade with the whole of eastern
Europe should open up much further in the run-up to 2020.
This will be the key to balanced relations, development and
peace.

— removing existing bottlenecks;

— harmonising technical and social regulations to allow

healthy competition;

6.3.1.
In order to prepare more effectively for a trade policy
with eastern Europe, for which one of the goods transport
corridors is the Danube, river traffic on the Danube should be
restored within the next three years by:

— lifting administrative constraints, such as customs for-

malities within the European area;

— clearing the debris of the three bombed bridges and
removing any unexploded ordnance present in the FRY
section;

(1) COM(2001) 370 final, of 12.9.2001.

— removing the pontoon bridges which have been installed
temporarily and which block the river on weekdays;

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— rebuilding bridges, particularly the Sloboda bridge at

Novi Sad in Serbia.

6.4. Meeting the growing demand in terms of transport
cannot be divorced from the need to protect the environment,
in the context of sustainable development commitments.

6.5.
To this end, while maintaining the competition necess-
ary for growth, it is time to promote every possible form of
complementarity between the various modes of transport.

Each of these modes of transport has advantages and

6.6.
meets a portion of demand.

6.7.
In addition to land transport in the European Union,
international trade with other continents is conducted via
maritime and air transport. All possibilities for intercon-
nections at this level should be exploited.

7.4.
The Committee would like to see an increase in the
share of European funding in projects to improve and develop
the inland waterway network. European subsidies for work on
removing bottlenecks should be doubled from 10 to 20 %. In
the same ways as for rail, the urgent removal of bottlenecks
on the existing networks should be a priority, as it is essential
for stimulating the market.

On this note, when it examines the white paper (1) as a
7.5.
whole, the Committee will have to evaluate the sum of
the Community contribution rate earmarked ‘specifically’ for
‘cross-border rail projects’, and ‘projects with the aim of
eliminating clearly identified rail bottlenecks at borders with
candidate countries ... on a one-off basis’. The Committee will
then confirm that between now and 2020 inland waterways
should benefit from the same Community contribution pro-
visions as rail projects when the aim is to eliminate all
bottlenecks, wherever their geographical location in the Euro-
pean Union or on its current external borders (Danube, Elbe,
Havel-Oder, etc.).

7. The Committee’s proposals for the development of
inland waterway transport over the next two decades

7.1.
The Committee would encourage all initiatives design-
ed to step up the harmonisation of administrative, customs-
related, technical and social regulations with regard to inland
waterways.

The Committee would ask that

the Commission
7.2.
— while abiding by the rules of subsidiarity — recommend
that the Member States earmark a sufficient annual budget for
inland waterways in order to renovate and modernise existing
networks.

7.6.
The Committee would like to see encouragement for
the creation of multimodal interchange platforms near inland
waterway networks, which should be treated as structural
facilities in terms of regional planning. In particular, this means
establishing land reserves to allow for future centres of
economic activity to be set up on the banks of
inland
waterways, with the possibility of dedicated river or rail links.

7.7.
The Committee would suggest that to translate these
policies into practice, the Commission should propose the
introduction of specific European subsidies (of the Marco
Polo kind) to finance up to 20 % of multimodal platform
development projects involving access to waterways.

7.3.
The Committee calls on the European Union to provide
funding for investment in new facilities, taking into account
both the relative importance of the various modes of transport
and the targets for striking a new balance between them that
are to be set for the next 10 and 20 years.

7.8.
A move of this kind in financing procedures gives a
clear and strong signal of the European Union’s intention to
develop a new — environmentally friendly — strand in its
goods transport policy, while also encouraging the States
concerned to accelerate their development projects.

7.3.1.
The Committee asks the European Union to confirm
its budgetary commitments by providing 85 % of the funding
needed for clearance work on the Danube, and would like the
members of the Danube Commission to provide the remaining
15 % in the form of national contributions.

7.9.
Lastly, the Committee would point out that all the
individuals and organisations consulted in the preparation for
this opinion stressed the lack of up-to-date information.

The Committee would also like the European Union
7.3.2.
to provide 100 % funding for the rebuilding of the Sloboda
bridge at Novi Sad.

(1) See Part 2, article II A, third paragraph.

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7.10.
Currently, for instance, at European level, there is no
available, detailed, up-to-date list of bottlenecks. Likewise, in
the economic domain, although it is possible to estimate the
level of activity, there are not enough forward studies to assess
the future market for goods transport. Finally, there are no
economic data available on waterway tourism or waterway-
related activities, despite the fact that these activities have
clearly grown in importance.

8. Conclusions

8.1.
To ease the circulation of goods in today’s 15-member
EU and in the future enlarged Union of 26 members, various
incentive measures will have to be taken before 2010 to ensure
that by 2020 there is a network of navigable inland waterways
that meets internal market demand, while respecting the
principles of sustainable development.

7.11.
For this reason, not only is there an unawareness of
the importance of the sector, but it is also difficult to secure
recognition of its potential. Similarly, there is still no clear
prediction of the investment required in infrastructure, facili-
ties, materials, boats and staff training.

The Commission should study the up-to-date and

8.2.
exhaustive list of bottlenecks in detail so as to establish:

— the type of bottleneck;

7.12.
The Committee would therefore ask that before it
publishes the new updated TEN guidelines for 2004, the
Commission use funds available from the transport budget,
the regional policy budget, or any other form of financing to
take the following European-level initiatives:

— conduct a study taking stock of the exact position of the
existing inland waterway network — eastern Europe
included — in order to optimise utilisation, by drawing
up an exhaustive list of bottlenecks with the estimated
cost of the work needed to remove them; the cost of this
work could be usefully compared to that of work to be
carried out for other modes of transport in order to
respond to market demand;

— carry out forward studies for 10 and 20 years’ time,
taking enlargement eastwards into account, in order to
predict trends in the tonnage and type of goods transport-
ed by water and the types of packaging, so as to target
the necessary investment more effectively;

— the desired dimensions and the technical work to be

done;

— progress on technical surveys or work under way,

including the necessary capital budget;

— the planned timetable with the duration of the work,
specifying whether it will be completed before or after
2020;

— financing mechanisms, distinguishing between three cate-

gories of bottleneck:

— those receiving a 20 % Community financial contri-

bution as for rail;

— those benefiting from Structural Fund or Cohesion

Fund aid (regional policy);

— and those supported by the PHARE and central

European programmes.

8.3.

For intermodality

— send the Committee the conclusions of the University of
Hamburg study ordered by the Commission, in order to
look at intermodality between the various modes of
goods transport and the rebalancing needed;

— Transport companies and public authorities or companies
should be encouraged to increase freight volumes by
boosting European or national financial aid. This would
stimulate initiatives and projects to promote intermodal
transport, of which inland waterways are one element.

— make Hamburg a permanent observatory, which will
present an annual report including recommendations for
improving the balance between the various modes of
transport.

— The Commission should finance an outline plan of all
the intermodal transit platforms over a certain annual
tonnage, to be decided. That plan should provide for
European subsidies, the sum of which should be in
proportion with the number of modes of transport (air +
coastal + inland waterways + rail + road).

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8.4.
In the area of regulations, customs and duties, the
Commission should submit, within four years, a series of
practical measures to the Council and the Parliament, with a
view to facilitating the development of
inland waterway
transport, as suggested in the white paper:

— removal of unjustifiable charges collected by sea ports for
any assistance provided, so as not to put river transport
and combined inland waterway and sea shipping at a
disadvantage vis à vis competitors;

— abolition of the special charges levied on new boats as
part of the ‘old for new’ rule that finances the scrapping

Brussels, 16 January 2002.

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the 2003

from 2002, without waiting for

fund,
deadline;

— implementation of a system of customs controls on
departure and arrival of boats only, to facilitate combined
inland-waterway and sea traffic, as traffic can now be
monitored reliably via the Galileo programme;

— establishment of

single Community

certificate,
enabling bargemen to travel on all European inland
waterways,
following the example of heavy goods
vehicle drivers.

a

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on:

— the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
Decision No 1719/1999/EC on a series of guidelines, including the identification of projects
of common interest, for trans-European networks for the electronic interchange of data
between administrations (IDA)’, and

— the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
Decision No 1720/1999/EC, adopting a series of actions and measures in order to ensure
interoperability of and access to trans-European networks for the electronic interchange of
data between administrations (IDA)’

(2002/C 80/05)

On 12 November 2001, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 156 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposals.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 18 December 2001. The
rapporteur was Mr Bernabei.

At its 387th plenary session (meeting of 16 January 2002), the Economic and Social Committee
unanimously adopted the following opinion.

1. The IDA II programme: evaluation and proposed

amendments

28 May 1998 annulling Decision No 468/95/EC that had
formalised the Commission’s 1993 proposal, on which the
Committee had issued an opinion (1).

The IDA programme originated in 1993-1995, but it
1.1.
has had prolonged periods of difficulty owing to the absence
of a legal basis, following the Court of Justice’s judgment of

(1) OJ C 249 of 13.9.1993.