Strasbourg, 16/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has agreed to use the reserve fund to help the inland waterways sector adapt to meet new challenges. This is the major measure contained in the Naiades II package, which aims to provide new impetus to inland waterways. It was adopted at first reading on Tuesday 15 April, on the basis of the work carried out by Corien Wortmann Kool (EPP, Netherlands).
Reserve Fund. The first part of this package was approved by 620 votes to 20, with 34 abstentions. It seeks to authorise the use of €35 million lying dormant in the reserve fund for inland waterways that has been made up mainly of inputs from the industry. The reserve fund was initially intended to help fund the training of workers but can be extended to all crew members and, above all, help to modernise boats on the inland waterways. It could also be used to fund innovation in boats and the technologies used to make them greener.
Technical Directive. The second part of the package focuses on the technical requirements for inland waterways vessels. The revised directive makes procedures to amend these prerequisites easier to apply.
The Council has already given its approval to the revised regulation on the reserve fund and is preparing to do so for the technical directive. The new rules will therefore be applied very soon. Siim Kallas, Commissioner for Transport, was delighted with this development because the proposals in the package are aimed at using“Europe's rivers and canals to their full potential to the benefit of the transport network”. (MD)