Importance of strengthening the position of inland waterway transport
16.9.2009
WRITTEN QUESTION E-4584/09
by Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (ALDE)
to the Commission
1. Does the Commission share my view that inland waterway transport:
- —plays a crucial way in ensuring that goods can be moved quickly and efficiently around Europe?
- —can help Europe meet environmental challenges?
- —offers substantial potential for growth which should be exploited to the full?
- —would benefit from flanking measures to increase its share of intermodal transport and to encourage the shift in modal transport towards inland waterway transport?
2. Following an enthusiastic start in the early months of 2006, my impression is that the Naiades action plan is now being implemented in a sluggish and half-hearted way. Can the Commission indicate precisely how implementation is proceeding?
3. Can the Commission also indicate why Communication COM(2009)0279, entitled ‘A sustainable future for transport: Towards and integrated, technology-led and user friendly system’, pays so little attention to inland waterway transport?
4. Can the Commission state what measures are to be taken, in the context of the discussion of ‘a sustainable future for transport’ and the revision of the TEN-T guidelines, to strengthen the position and exploit the potential of inland waterway transport?
OJ C 10 E, 14/01/2011