1st Annual Stakeholder Conference on inland waterways in the Danube region

The effective and sustainable implementation of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region(EUSDR) in the field on inland waterways takes a strong commitment by all actors concerned – not only by the Danube countries and political decision-makers, but also – and especially so – by relevant stakeholders, including the navigation sector, international industry associations, regional and local authorities, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and civil society.

In order to involve key stakeholders in the process of implementing the EUSDR, the Coordinators of the Strategy’s Priority Area 1a on inland waterways have set up Working Groups in which experts discuss on topics such as waterway infrastructure, comprehensive waterway management, ports & sustainable freight transport, fleet modernization, River Information Services and education & jobs.

To complement this expert forum with a broader involvement of stakeholders, Annual Stakeholder Conferences are organized by the Priority Area Coordinators, offer the possibility to inform about and discuss the work done during the first year of the Danube Region Strategy, to consult different actors on the content of the road map for the implementation of actions in the inland waterways Priority Area and to jointly develop new approaches and perspectives. The status quo of implementation is presented to the stakeholders by the Priority Area Coordinators and by the members of the Steering Group, in which the 14 Danube countries, three Directorates-General of the European Commission, three river commissions and several transnational organizations are represented.
As Coordinators of Priority Area 1a of the EUSDR, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania and the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria have organized the 1st Annual Stakeholder Conference on inland waterways in the framework of the EU Danube Region Strategy on 24–25 May 2012 at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest.

The Annual Stakeholder Conferences are addressed to the business environment, international industry associations, intergovernmental organizations, public authorities, NGOs, academic environment etc. from all EU Member States and from Danube riparian non-EU Member States.