Com­mis­si­on pro­po­ses to moder­ni­se river infor­ma­ti­on ser­vices in EU

The mea­su­re fol­lows up on the action plan to shift more car­go to Europe’s inland water­ways, in line with the EU Green Deal and the Sus­tainable and Smart Mobi­li­ty Stra­tegy – trans­port by inland water­ways is energy-efficient, and almost congestion-free.

Com­mis­sio­ner for Trans­port Adi­na Vălean said: „The mea­su­res pro­po­sed today will impro­ve the effi­ci­en­cy and relia­bi­li­ty of inland navi­ga­ti­on and traf­fic manage­ment across Europe’s rivers, such as the Danu­be and the Rhi­ne. Modern river infor­ma­ti­on ser­vices will help bar­ge ope­ra­tors and skip­pers to bet­ter and more easi­ly exch­an­ge with port ope­ra­tors and aut­ho­ri­ties to bet­ter plan and exe­cu­te their voy­a­ges. In turn, this will help fur­ther inte­gra­ting inland water­ways trans­port within modern logi­stics pro­ces­ses and mul­ti­mo­dal chains.“

The pro­po­sal updates the exis­ting direc­ti­ve on river infor­ma­ti­on ser­vices, inclu­ding pro­vi­si­ons on traf­fic infor­ma­ti­on and manage­ment, on infor­ma­ti­on on the con­di­ti­on of water­ways and infra­struc­tu­re, on voya­ge plan­ning for skip­pers, and on report­ing to aut­ho­ri­ties. RIS is pro­vi­ded on around 13,000 km of inter­con­nec­ted water­ways across 12 EU Mem­ber States. 

The 2005 direc­ti­ve had a posi­ti­ve impact on har­mo­ni­s­ing the­se infor­ma­ti­on ser­vices across the EU. It now needs moder­ni­s­ing to take into account les­sons lear­nt from imple­men­ta­ti­on, and to ensu­re it is fit for cur­rent and future chal­lenges, such as fur­ther digi­ta­li­sa­ti­on, demands on effi­ci­en­cy, sus­taina­bi­li­ty and com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness, and modal shift. Today’s pro­po­sal pro­vi­des a frame­work for RIS deploy­ment and pro­vi­si­ons, and seeks to ensu­re that data is available and tech­ni­cal spe­ci­fi­ca­ti­ons are har­mo­nis­ed and deli­vers on a clear expec­ta­ti­on from the inland water­ways trans­port sector.