2nd Session of Working Groups of the Priority Area 1a – Inland waterways

Vienna, March 15-16, 2012

As Coordinators of Priority Area 1.a, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria and the Austrian waterway development and management company via donau organized in Vienna, on March 15-16, 2012 the second meeting of the Working Groups for Priority Area 1.a of the Danube Region Strategy.
The Steering Group of Priority Area 1.a Inland waterways of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) decided to organize five working groups, taking into account the wide range of themes of this priority area, meaning Modernize the Danube Fleet, Invest in Education & Jobs, Implement River Information Services, Improve Waterway Infrastructure and Waterway Management and Develop Multimodal Ports & Sustainable Freight Transport. In addition to project promoters and the representatives of the states in the region, Working Group meetings are open to all actors involved in inland waterway transport.
In 2011, two meetings of the Steering Group and one meeting of the Working Groups were held. The kick-off meeting of the Working Groups was attended by 70 people representing the public and private sectors of the Danube riparian countries, representatives of the European Commission as well as River and other International Commissions. During the meeting the ongoing activities were presented for each of the five areas and discussions on the organization of these groups were held. The conclusions were that Working Group meetings should be held twice a year, to continue the involvement of private sector experts and to provide the opportunity to discuss and analyze projects and projects ideas that can contribute to the development of inland waterway transport in an integrated manner in the Danube riparian states.

The 2nd Working Groups meeting took place right after the Barge to Business 2012 Conference, Europe’s premier inland waterway event. Mr. Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG REGIO) who is in charge of the Danube Region Strategy, provided a key note address on the Strategy’s inland waterways priority area on 15 March 2012 at noon on the second day of Barge to Business 2012.