Brussels, 18/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 18 March, the parliamentary committee on transport (TRAN) confirmed the agreement reached in institutional trialogue to activate the reserve fund for international navigation (see EUROPE 11038). There are currently €35 million from contributions from industry lying dormant ready to be used in the event of a major disturbance to the inland navigation sector. Now, use of this fund can be extended to supporting the sector by promoting innovation, modernising the fleet and training employees and operators. “This agreement finally makes the money of the reserve fund available for (…) projects to bring down costs for adaptations to engines”, said the rapporteur, Corien Wortmann-Kool (EPP, Netherlands), whose report was adopted by 34 votes to two, with two abstentions. It will also be possible to use the funds in combination with European funding for research, Horizon 2020, or for transport, the Connecting Europe Facility. The plenary has still to validate this agreement, which is part of the Naïades II package proposed by the European Commission to support inland navigation. (MD)