© via donau I 1

EU Strategy for the Danube Region – Vienna/Bratislava Conference 20. April 2010, Bratislava

Otto Schwetz, Chairman of the Pan-European Transport Corridor VII, the DanubeMarkus Simoner, via donau – Austrian waterway infrastructure management and development enterprise

Develop a sustainable and competitive transport system on the Danube river

© via donau I 2

Territorial coverage of the Danube region strategy

© via donau I 3

The significance of the Danube waterway for theDanube region countries

• The Danube river directly connects 10 out of the 14 Danube region countries

• Furthermore the Danube also connects to the regional hinterland via its navigable tributaries (Sava, Drava, Tisa and the Danube-Black Sea canal) and more than 70 ports (40 of international importance)

© via donau I 4

The Danube river in the context of theEuropean waterway network

Trieste

Bergen

Oslo

MalmöKopenhagen

Rotterdam

AmsterdamHamburg

AntwerpenBrussel

Lille

Dunkerque DortmundKeulen

Paris

Lyon

HannoverBerlin

HalleDresden

Glasgow

Newcastle

ManchesterBirmingham

Cardiff

Southampton

WarschauwPoznan

Lódz

Praag KatowiceOstrava

BrnoMiskolc

Budapest

Wien

GrazGyör

Linz

München

FrankfurtNeürenberg

Stuttgart

Venetia

Nantes

Bordeaux

Toulouse

Strassbourg

Basel

Sarajevo

Roma

Napoli

Livorno

Bologna

Milano

Genua

Bern

Bilbao

Lisboa

Sevilla

MadridBarcelona

Valencia

Dublin

London

Porto

Göteborg

Stockholm

Karlstad

LappeenrantaVästeras

Sète

Marseille

Rouen

Le Havre

Main industrial areas

Accessibility by water

© via donau I 5

The Danube river in the context of the European policy framework

• EC Guidelines for the Development of the Trans-European Transport Network TEN–T (Priority project 18 - Waterway axis Rhine/Meuse-Main-Danube)

• EC Transport White Paper (Mid-term review 2006)

• NAIADES – European Action Programme for inland waterway transport (2006) and its implementation platform PLATINA

• EU enlargement and European neighbourhood policy: EC guidelines for transport in Europe and neighbouring regions (´Building bridges´ 2007)

• The new Europe 2020 strategy (20/20/20 climate/energy targets – low carbon economy)

© via donau I 6

The Danube river: Multiple uses and functions

• Waterway

• Valuable ecosystem and habitat

• Flood protection

• Agriculture

• Drinking water

• Tourism and recreation

• Waste water and cooling water

• Fishery

• Energy production

© via donau I 7

Strategic actions

Sonstige

• Implement the agreed TEN-T priority Danube waterway infrastructure projects on time and in an environmentally sustainable way

• Develop Danube Ports into multimodal logistics centres

• Improve the environmental performance of Danube navigation

• Implement harmonised River Information Services on the Danube

• Invest in jobs and qualifications in the Danube navigation sector

• Improve comprehensive waterway management of the Danube (ecology, navigation and flood protection)

• Examine potential effects of climate change on Danube navigation

• Coordinate national transport policies in order to promote Danube navigation

© via donau I 8

Danube navigation is a multi-dimensional system

Inland waterway transport is an interlinked system with many parameters to be taken into consideration

Integrated actions, international cooperation and active national policies are needed to maintain and restore the Danube as a natural living space and habitat as well as a European transport axis!