Siim Kallas, the European commissioner for transport, will next week call on EU ministers to explore ways to use the "vastly underused potential" of Europe's rivers, canals and seas for freight transport.Kallas, who will make the call at a ministerial meeting in Antwerp (15-16 September), hopes to take advantage of shipping-friendly Belgium's presidency of the Council of Ministers to boost transport along Europe's inland and coastal waterways.

Shipping has long been seen by the Commission as an environmentally friendly alternative to roads - emissions per tonne of freight have fallen over the last 25 years - but the Commission thinks that the sector has struggled to compete with roads. Around 36% of goods transported within the EU go by 'short sea shipping' and less than 4% by inland waterways - compared to 46% by road.

Inland waterways and short sea shipping is something everyone agrees is environmentally friendly, very efficient," said an EU official. "We don't want to kill the truck, but we want to use the truck where it is best used," he added.

Alfons Guinier, the secretary-general of the European Community Shipowners' Association, said "If a ship leaves the 12-mile zone [national waters], it is leaving Europe, which means that all the cargo becomes non-European cargo," Guinier said. He recommended that cargo travelling from, Antwerp to Lisbon "should retain EU status notwithstanding the fact that it has left the 12-mile zone", thus allowing it swift passage through customs.

To help reduce red tape, the Commission wants to create fast-track procedures at customs for EU ships. This would be one of several 'blue lanes' for intra-EU shipping trade; another envisages dedicated sea routes for 'trusted' EU ships. In addition, officials would like greater use of information technology to make customs more efficient.

Source : EuropeanVoice.com