On 17 February 2017, the DANTE project aiming to improve administrative procedures and processes for Danube IWT was officially kicked off at the Danube Commission headquarters in Budapest. The event brought together representatives from the European Commission (Ms Desireé Oen, Policy Advisor to Rhine-Danube Coordinator, DG MOVE/B1) and from the Danube Commission (Mr Petar Margic, General Director) as well as more than 60 experts and stakeholders with a dedicated interest in the Danube navigation.
DANTE – initiated and coordinated by Pro Danube –as a joint initiative of the private sector and the national public authorities responsible for these barriers. The project partners will develop good practices and guidelines for effective administration of IWT activities in relation to the identified barriers. One key element for the successful project implementation will be the development of a transnational IWT barrier reporting tool for collecting user experiences.
“Administrative barriers and related fees in the logistics of goods and passengers on the Danube & its navigable tributaries are major obstacles for wide-scale and efficient use of the river as main transport axis of the region. DANTE is one important step towards tackling, mitigating and abolishing the most important administrative barriers in a coordinated and transnationally integrated manner”, says Alexandru Capatu, President of Pro Danube International.
By improving administrative procedures and by reducing bureaucratic processes as well as related charges & fees for IWT operations, DANTE aims for harmonized regulations and simplified administrative processes of transport & transhipment operations following the “Same River-Same Rules” concept of Pro Danube. This shall lead to better governance & management of this environmentally-friendly European core transport infrastructure and reduce the logistics costs of major industries depending on waterway transportation for their global competitiveness.
“DANTE – Improving Administrative Procedures and Processes for Danube IWT” project is co-funded by European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA) under the Danube Transnational Programme and will run for 30 months (January 2017 – June 2019). It will be implemented by a transnational consortium of 16 co-funded organisations and 12 associated strategic partners (public authorities, consulting companies, universities and NGOs) from 10 European countries. The project has a total budget of EUR 1,98 million, out of which ERDF contribution amounts EUR 1,65 million & IPA contribution amounts EUR 35.233,35.
