Brussels, 06/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Council, the transport ministers of the EU27 have confirmed their support for a full integration of the maritime and river transport systems into the logistics chain of the EU. The saturation of road transport and environmental issues mean that it is necessary to use alternative modes of transport more often, stated the ministers in conclusions adopted on Thursday 2 December, further to the informal meeting of the transport ministers in September. Amongst other things, the Council supports the “blue belt” project proposed by the current Belgian Presidency of the Council, which aims to establish a maritime space without barriers. This would make the free circulation of ships possible, by combining and coordinating technological resources and traffic monitoring, leading to a considerable reduction in administrative formalities. The "blue belt" would then be added to by the "blue lines" project, a system for administrative, technological and physical assistance made available to ships by the port and customs authorities. In their conclusions, the ministers also lent their official support to the launch, on 30 November, of the first pilot project on this, managed jointly by the European Commission and the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). The Council also pleaded for better coordination between the planned sea motorways and the multi-modal transport system, and for the reinforcement of links between short-sea shipping, rail transport and navigable waterway navigation. (A.By./transl.fl)