Inland Navigation Europe celebrates ten years of success and lays out plans for the next ten years

Over the last ten years, INE has actively lobbied for a greater profile for inland navigation in European policy and implementation.

Achievements include:

• a dedicated European waterway transport action plan, Naiades.
• two large waterway projects included in the priority list of trans-European networks
• increased TEN-T co-financing for cross-border waterway projects
• a framework directive which ensures harmonised cross-border RIS deployment and a EU co-financing budget for RIS deployment
• better access to the EU Marco Polo programme for inland waterway transport
• the introduction of low-sulphur fuel for inland waterway transport.

“While much has been achieved, the work is far from done. INE will continue to actively campaign with its partners for long-term strategies that enable the growth and development of inland waterway transport in EU regions and cities with accessible and navigable rivers and canals” said Karin De Schepper, General Secretary of INE.

Future plans for the organisation include:

1.    Increasing inland waterway cooperation
“It is our aim to further strengthen the voice of inland waterway transport in Europe through further increasing cooperation between the main European organisations for inland navigation” said De Schepper.
2.    Creating a step-in for logistics and supply chain managers
There is more and more interest and commitment from industry to exploring and exploiting sustainable options in all areas of their business. INE will reach out to interested users and work on better information tools about how to integrate inland navigation into the supply chain.
3.    Establishing integrated partnerships
Because rivers and canals do much more than transport goods and people, and many different kinds of activities happily co-exist along waterways, INE will be working towards creating strong partnerships for fostering multi-purpose and integrated river landscapes.

 
Quelle: Inland Navigation Europe