Inland Ports meet in Vienna to talk about TEN-T and development in the Danube Region

Press Releases

28 April 2023

Inland Ports meet in Vienna to talk about TEN-T and development in the Danube Region

On 28 April 2023, EFIP members gathered in Vienna (Austria) for their annual General Assembly meeting. The meeting was hosted by the Port of Vienna (Hafen Wien). The focus of the event was the ongoing Trans-European Network – Transport (TEN-T) revision currently ongoing.

For inland ports the Trans European Network for Transport (TEN-T) is foundational in realising the European Green Deal goals. Key questions raised during the open session included the emphasis on multimodal transport, the integration of the rail freight corridors, the new Good Navigation Status (GNS) and the increased focus on climate resilience. These requirements are essential in ensuring the strength and success of European logistics in the future.


During the expert panel discussion on “TEN-T and Danube inland ports”, with Ms Monika Gindl-Muzik, Managing Director of WienCont, Mr Robert Rafael, Secretary General of Pro Danube International and General Manager of Pro Danube Management GmbH outlined the development and challenges of multimodal transport in the Danube region.

This was followed by a speech and Q&A with MEP Barbara Thaler, the European Parliament Co-Rapporteur on TEN-T Guidelines. MEP Thaler reacted that “TEN-T after this revision will be the foundation on which Europe will realise its modal shift. Growth of rail and inland shipping forms the first step in realising this. Inland ports in the Danube region are ideally located to help realise this objective.”

Friedrich Lehr, Commercial Director of the Port of Vienna and EFIP Vice President, sees a lot of need for action: "The status of inland navigation must be raised through subsidies and support measures. What is urgently needed are consistently stable fairway conditions for inland navigation. In addition, some inland ports on the lower Danube still need to be modernised. In the recent past, I see the danger that more providers in inland navigation will disappear from the scene. The margins in this sector are too low for companies to modernise their fleets on a large scale. In addition, there are the risks caused by the increasingly frequent low-water phases." For Friedrich Lehr, there are only two modes of transport that come into question for mitigating climate change: rail and - the one with perhaps even greater potential - inland navigation.

General Assembly members had then the chance to visit the Port of Vienna.

Markiezaat Container Terminal op Zoom joins EFIP

During the General Assembly, EFIP members also welcomed a new member, the Markiezaat Container Terminal in Bergen op Zoom. The Markiezaat Terminaal is an inland terminal located between Antwerp and Rotterdam and intends to further expand to support the growth of the Scheldt-Rhine network. The terminal aims to expand its cooperation in the sector across Europe.

Antoine Berbain, President of EFIP, said: “We welcome the addition of the Markiezaat Terminal to the EFIP network. It allows us to expand our own understanding of our colleagues and improve cooperation”

 

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The European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) brings together nearly 200 inland ports and port authorities in 18 countries of the European Union, Switzerland, Serbia and Ukraine. EFIP highlights and promotes the role of European inland ports as real intermodal nodal points in the transport and logistic chain, combining inland waterway transport with rail, road, and maritime transport.

For further information, please contact: info@inlandports.be or check our website www.inlandports.eu

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