Brussels, 27/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the third conference of the Danube macro-region in Vienna recently, EU Regional Development Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that money was available in the EU structural funds for maintenance of navigation on the Danube.
Hahn regretted: “Improving water quality or navigability in one place becomes meaningless, if a few kilometres away the same efforts are not being made”, adding that the unpredictability of water levels along the river mean that barges have to be unloaded in bad weather conditions, which makes river transport less competitive.
In order to deal with this, Hahn said: “Maintenance of the fairway is the responsibility of each country - but relatively small sums used well, can make a big difference. The Danube strategy can help pinpoint which actions are necessary, and co-ordinate co-financed investments”.
The commissioner therefore calls on all member states in the Danube macro-region to ensure that waterway maintenance is factored in to the current structural fund programming for 2014-2020. He added that work has already started on the Bulgaria-Romania section of the river, using EU technical assistance. The Danube flows through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia and 5 non-EU countries (Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova). (MD)