PURPOSE: to update the rules on a Community-fleet capacity policy in order to promote inland waterway transport.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) No 546/2014 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
CONTENT: this new Regulation broadens the scope of the reserve funds called Inland Waterway Funds, set up under Council Regulation 718/1999 by Member States with inland waterways linked to those of another Member State and a total fleet tonnage of over 100 000 tonnes.
The new Regulation provides that the reserve funds may now be used by any Member State to take measures, in particular to:
· make it easier for inland waterway carriers leaving the industry to obtain an early retirement pension or to transfer to another economic activity, inter alia, by providing comprehensive information;
· organise vocational training or retraining schemes for crew members, including workers and owner-operators, leaving the industry and provide appropriate information about those schemes;
· improve skills in inland navigation and knowledge of logistics in order to safeguard the development and future of the profession;
· encourage owner-operators to join trade associations and strengthen the organisations representing inland waterway transport at Union level;
· encourage adaptation of vessels to technical progress in order to improve working conditions, including health protection, and promote safety;
· encourage innovation in respect of vessels and their adaptation to technical progress as regards the environment, including environmentally-friendly vessels;
· encourage ways of leveraging the use of the reserve funds in conjunction with available financial instruments, including, where appropriate, under Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility, and with financing instruments from the European Investment Bank.
It is specified that the reserve funds may be used for the adaptation of vessels to technical and environmental requirements adopted after the entry into force of the Regulation, including their adaptation to the further development of European standards on engine emissions, as well as for the encouragement of engine fuel efficiency, of the use of alternative fuels and of any other measures to improve air quality, and for environmentally-friendly vessels, including river-adapted vessels.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 18.06.2014.