Rules for promoting inland waterway transport in the EU

KEY POINTS

Regulation (EC) No 718/1999

• The regulation covers vessels that transport goods commercially. There are several exemptions, such as for vessels that operate on the Danube or that are used exclusively for storing goods or for dredging.
• EU countries that have fleet tonnage of over 100,000 tonnes, and with waterways connected with other EU countries, were required to set up an Inland Waterways Fund (with separate reserve funds for dry cargo carriers¹, tankers² and pusher vessels³).
• These funds were to be administered by national authorities and could be used in 2 situations:
  • in the event of ‘serious market disturbance’ in the inland waterway transport market (within the meaning of Directive 96/75/EC); and
  • if unanimously requested by the organisations representing inland waterway transport – as of early 2014, these reserve funds had never been used.
• The regulation originally contained an old-for-new rule. This meant that any owner who wanted to bring a new vessel into the fleet had to either scrap old vessel tonnage or pay money. This rule came to an end under Regulation (EC) No 411/2003 (since repealed and replaced by Commission Regulation (EC) No 181/2008 — see below), and could only be reactivated, accompanied or not by structural improvement measures, in the event of a serious market disturbance of the kind referred to in Directive 96/75/EC.

Regulation (EC) No 181/2008

Regulation (EC) No 181/2008 lays down rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 718/1999. It sets the rate of the special contributions referred to in Regulation (EC) No 718/1999 (Article 7), the ratios for the old-for-new rule, and the practical arrangements for implementing the Community fleet capacity policy.

Amending Regulation (EU) No 546/2014

Under amending Regulation (EU) No 546/2014, the scope of the measures available under Regulation (EC) No 718/1999 was extended. The measures now include:

• help (such as information) for workers on inland waterway carriers leaving the industry to obtain an early retirement pension or transfer to another job;
• vocational training or retraining schemes for crew members leaving the industry;
• improvement of skills in inland navigation and knowledge of logistics to safeguard the development and future of the profession;
• encouraging owner-operators to join trade associations and strengthen the organisations representing inland waterway transport at EU level;
• encouraging upgrading of vessels to improve working conditions and safety;
• encouraging innovation in respect of vessels and their improved environmental performance;
• encouraging the use of the reserve funds together with financial instruments such as Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility.