Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 718/1999 on a Community-fleet capacity policy to promote inland waterway transport

Council Regulation (EC) No 718/1999 of 29 March 1999 on a Community-fleet capacity policy to promote inland waterway transport introduced a fleet capacity regulatory mechanism, the ‘old-for-new’ rule, aimed at avoiding the emergence or aggravation of fleet overcapacity on the inland waterway market in the EU. In April 2003, the ‘old-for-new’ rule was converted into a standby mechanism to be activated in the event of a serious market disturbance of the kind referred to in Directive 96/75/EC.

In line with their fleet capacity policies, Member States with inland waterways linked to those of another Member State and total fleet tonnage of over 100,000 tonnes set up an Inland Waterway Fund (the ‘Reserve Fund’) on the basis of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 718/1999.

The Reserve Funds are financed from the surplus funding from structural improvement schemes conducted up to 28 April 1999 and the special contributions received under the ‘old-for-new’ rule. They consist solely of financial contributions from the inland waterway transport industry and their cumulative value currently amounts to around €35 million.

The funds are administered by the competent authorities of the Member States concerned under their national legislation and with their own administrative resources. National organisations representing inland waterway carriers are involved in this administration in accordance with Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 718/1999.

To date, the capital in the reserve funds has never been used. In 2009, the Netherlands informed the Commission about an alleged serious market disturbance in its inland waterway transport market and asked it to take suitable measures in accordance with Directive 96/75/EC. However, from the information provided, the Commission was unable to confirm the existence of a serious market disturbance within the meaning of the Directive.

The EU-level representative organisations approached the Commission once, in 2003, to enquire about possibilities for using the funds. However, the envisaged measures were considered to be outside the scope of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 718/1999.

The measures referred to in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 718/1999 are only covering social aspects. However, these measures could be extended in particular to broaden the scope of training schemes, to strengthen the organisation of the sector and to create a context favourable to innovation and improved environmental performance.

It is therefore proposed that the measures provided for in Article 8 be extended as following:
- give the possibility to organise vocational training or retraining schemes for all crew members leaving the industry, not only for employees (or workers);
- allow support to strengthen professional associations at Union level; and
- encourage the innovation of vessels and their adaptation to technical progress as regards the environment.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)621: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:621:FIN

ESO: Background information: Making better use of Europe's waterways http://www.europeansources.info/record/making-better-use-of-europes-waterways/

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