Press Release: Commission boosts inland waterway transport through a new platform – PLATINA

On 1 October, 2008, the European Commission launched its PLATINA project to implement more efficiently actions and measures promoting inland waterway transport. The project, which is bringing together 22 partners from 9 European countries, is funded with € 8.5 million from the Commission. PLATINA has been designed as a platform for helping to implement the European inland navigation programme NAIADES. The Commission also presented today a guide to funding opportunities in inland waterway transport, as well as the outcomes of a study on administrative and regulatory barriers affecting inland navigation, to which PLATINA will assist the follow-up in a coordinated way. More use of inland waterway transport is an efficient way to reduce congestion and CO2 emissions and to contribute, in a sustainable way, to Europe’s industrial prosperity.