COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION Directive 2005/44/EC on harmonised river information services
Date: 2021-02-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission
Subjects: exchange of information, information system, inland waterway shipping, network of navigable waterways, pollution control, technical specification, transport infrastructure, transport safety, water protection, waterway transport

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 25.2.2021  SWD(2021) 51 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  Directive 2005/44/EC on harmonised river information services {SWD(2021) 50 final}  
 
 
The Directive 2005/44/EC on harmonised river information services (RIS) on inland waterways in the 
Union  establishes  a  framework  for  the  deployment  and  use  of  harmonised,  interoperable  and  open 
RIS. The Directive defines the general obligation of the Member States to ensure the development and 
implementation  of  river  information  services  in  an  efficient,  expandable  and  interoperable  way.  It 
currently  applies  to  the  13  Member  States  that  are  part  of  the  European  interconnected  network  of 
waterways.  The  RIS  Directive  has  been  one  of  the  main  drivers  of  digitalisation  in  the  inland 
waterway  transport  (IWT)  sector  through  the  introduction  of  information  and  communication 
technologies. 

The purpose of the evaluation was to support any further decisions related to the development of the 
legislative  framework  in  this  policy  area,  including  a  possible  revision  of  the  current  Directive.  As 
fifteen  years  have  passed  since  the  Directive  entered  into  force  in  2005,  it  was  considered  time  to 
assess  how  well  the  RIS  Directive  has  performed  relative  to  original  expectations.  The  ex-post 
evaluation takes into account not only the Directive as such, but also the implementation process for 
the five Implementing Acts concerning guidelines and technical specifications for RIS, and how they 
have contributed to the overall achievement of the objectives of the Directive. The evaluation period 
spans from January 2005 to December 2018 and assesses the implementation of the Directive in 13 
EU Member States and 2 non-EU countries. 

The Directive’s expected core benefits originate in cost savings for the IWT sector from a reduction in 
costs  due  to  non-harmonised  national  RIS  systems.  The  effectiveness  findings  therefore  provide 
evidence  on  the  extent  of  the  actual  regulatory  fitness  of  the  Directive  and  are  relevant  for  future 
policy making and in the context of the European Commission’s REFIT programme. The evaluation 
findings concerning the effectiveness of the Directive suggest that the degree of harmonisation differs 
between  RIS  technologies.  According  to  the  evidence,  most  harmonisation  was  achieved  in  type-
approval of RIS equipment and electronic navigational charts, slightly less in data for navigation and 
planning and notices to skippers. The least harmonisation was achieved in electronic ship reporting, 
especially due to different reporting requirements in the Member States resulting in resubmissions of 
electronic reports.  A highly  positive  harmonisation  effect  of  the  Directive  was achieved  through the 
implementation  of  tracking  and  tracing  systems,  even  though  this is  not  mandated  by  the  Directive. 
The evidence showed as well that RIS technologies are not utilised to the same extent in all countries 
and river corridors. Despite the lack of full harmonisation and differences in use of RIS in countries, 
consulted stakeholders agreed that standardisation of RIS has been the strongest benefit brought about 
by the Directive. Not a single respondent from the public consultation believed that the EU properly 
implemented the monitoring of the setting up of RIS. 

As regards the achievement of the general objectives of the Directive, the evidence is mixed. There is 
no robust evidence that the RIS Directive had an impact on the growth of the inland navigation sector 
or  led  to  the  optimised  use  of  existing  infrastructure.  There  are  indications  that  it  has  promoted 
environmental protection through a decrease in fuel consumption, although the degree to which this is 
fully  attributable  to  the  RIS  Directive  is  difficult  to  measure.  Despite  the  absence  of  consistent 
accident data across the Member States, there is a clear perception among all stakeholder groups that 
the RIS Directive has contributed to the improved safety in inland navigation. 

Concerning  the  evaluation  findings  on  the  efficiency  of  the  RIS  Directive,  there  is  very  limited 
evidence  for  the  overall  costs  the  Directive  has  entailed  to  establish  interoperable,  harmonised  RIS. 
Most RIS authorities are unable to differentiate between the overall costs related to the implementation 
of the RIS Directive, let alone distinguish between costs associated with RIS as such. The very limited 
quantitative  evidence  could  not  be  aggregated  and  generalised  to  the  level  of  the  RIS  Directive.  A 
qualitative assessment of the overall efficiency, based on evidence from the stakeholder consultations, 

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indicates that overall costs of the Directive are outweighed by the benefits accrued to the sector as  a 
whole. 

Evidence shows a clear potential for simplification and reduction of regulatory burden emerging from 
the slow update and adoption process of technical standards. There is an agreement among public and 
private stakeholders that the RIS Directive suffers from a lack of monitoring and slow implementation, 
as it takes too long for technical standards to be updated. Consequently, the sector permanently works 
with  outdated  standards.  This  imposes  a  cost  on  the  sector  that  likely  could  be  reduced  through 
changes  to  the  process.  This  finding  on  a  potential  for  simplification  is  particularly  relevant  in  the 
context  of  the  European  Commission’s  effort  to  enhance  the  regulatory  fitness  of  EU  law  (REFIT 
programme). 

The evaluation found that the RIS Directive and its implementing acts are still relevant. Evidence 
suggests that there has been a high degree of alignment between the objectives laid out in the Directive 
and the needs of the inland waterway transport sector. However, stakeholder consultations unveiled a 
paradigm  shift  for  digitalisation  in  inland  navigation.  While  the  Directive  primarily  focuses  on  the 
safety of navigation, the sector now has a stronger need for improving its efficiency and establishing 
stronger links with other modes of transport. Green, smart and congestion-free transport and logistics 
are  the  key  concepts  for  the  whole  transport  sector,  stipulated  by  the  European  Green  Deal 
communication  of  the  European  Commission. The  IWT  sector  needs  to  respond  to these new  needs 
and to adapt to the changes. Although guidelines and technical standards in the framework of the RIS 
Directive  are  still  relevant  and  necessary,  inefficiencies  in  their  adoption  process  reduces  their 
relevance. 

The  evaluation  shows  that  the  Directive  and  its  Implementing  Acts  form  a  consistent  legal 
framework for the achievement of the Directive’s objectives. The main mechanisms of the Directive, 
namely  the  establishment  of  technical  requirements,  specifications  and  conditions  for  data 
communication  and  RIS  equipment  as  well  as  the  imposition  of  a  minimum  level  of  RIS  services 
through the Implementing Regulations, are consistent and set forth logically. The RIS Directive shows 
a strong and successful effort to maintain consistency and guarantee adequate interaction between the 
Directive  and  other  international  legal  requirements  applicable  to  inland  waterway  transport.  No 
external inconsistencies have been found between the Directive and the EU legislation in the areas of 
(a)  inland  waterway  transport  policy;  (b)  EU  transport  legislation;  (c)  other  EU  legislation  in  areas 
outside transport policy. 

The  rationale  for  public  intervention  at  EU  level through  the  RIS  Directive  is rooted  in  the  cross-
border, international character of the inland waterway transport sector. Evidence from the stakeholder 
consultations confirms that the RIS Directive is justified and relevant as a public intervention at EU 
level,  in  order  to  avoid  fragmentation  between  different  national  RIS  implementation  approaches. 
There is strong agreement among stakeholders that the same benefits could not have been achieved by 
comparable  interventions  at  the  international,  regional  or  national  level.  Standardisation  and 
harmonisation  quite  clearly  emerge  as  the  main  benefits  brought  about  by  the  RIS  Directive. 
Especially in the Danube region, a strong cohesion value of the RIS Directive could be observed, as 
the  Directive  had  given  countries  the  necessary  impetus  to  cooperate  and  to  invest  in  inland 
navigation.  For  all  regions,  the  Directive’s  effect  was  amplified  by  that  of  European  funding 
instruments, particularly by the TEN-T and CEF programmes. 

The RIS Directive has a clear EU added value, even though it is difficult to quantify the findings due 
to the difficulty of attributing actual (observed) EU added value on the basis of evidence. Nonetheless, 
the findings confirm the positive perception that RIS users have of the Directive’s EU-wide effects on 
the inland waterway transport sector. The most notable finding is the strong impulse provided towards 

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standardisation  and  harmonisation  of  river  information  services  across  Europe  as  a  result  of  the 
common  EU-wide  technical  standards  introduced  by  the  RIS  Directive,  and  towards  an  increase  in 
safety. 

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