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EC calls for more cargo transport on the Danube

Cargo transport on the Danube river should be increased by 20% by 2020, according to an EU strategy for the region unveiled by the European Commission on Thursday. The plan follows a consultation with member states in February.

Regional policy commissioner Johannes Hahn said the Danube is only using 10% of its shipping potential, pointing out that inland waterways are a greener mode of transport. The Rhine river carried 330 million tonnes of cargo in 2007 compared with just 50Mt for the Danube, a river more than twice as long.

Green group WWF accused the commission of focusing too heavily on increasing cargo shipping. This would require a deepening and widening of the river, which could destroy valuable biodiversity and associated ecosystem services.

Member states will decide whether to endorse the plan during the Hungarian presidency of the EU in the first half of 2011. They will decide how the proposed targets will be monitored and which of the 14 countries in the basin area, including six non-EU states, will participate. The commission has only a coordinator role.

WWF (Dec. 2010): Danube river to be severely impacted by plans to increase navigation

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/policy/wwf_europe_environment/news/?197714/Danube-to-be-severely-impacted-by-navigation