​On 31 January, the CoR Plenary session approved the opinion of Clare County (Ireland) Cllr Brian Meaney on the NAIADES II package, which aims at improving the performance of inland navigation in comparison to other transport modes with respect to volumes of freight transported and with respect to sustainability.

The package sets out actions to improve the environmental impact of the inland waterway transport sector, to innovate vessels, to improve the working conditions of workers. European cooperation and coordination in this field is still characterised by short-term and partial solutions or ad-hoc initiatives. Adequate financial and fiscal means must therefore be made available to promote investment in inland waterway transport in order to contribute to sustainable transport models while improving the quality of the infrastructure and fostering integration into the logistics chain thus shifting as much as possible freight from road and rail to vessels.

CoR Press Release