Attended by experts of the European Commission (DG MOVE and DG COMP), the Danube Commission as well as national public and private entities, the core objective of the second public consultation organised in the framework of the GRENDEL project was to discuss and analyse the ongoing drafting process of the Model State Aid Scheme. Initiated by Pro Danube International, the ambitious plan to provide a widely harmonised State Aid Scheme for Danube fleet modernisation across borders has to take several legal aspects into consideration in order not to interfere with European legislation.
The current status of the draft proposal was thoroughly evaluated by the attendees. As a result, valuable input was provided to further develop and fine-tune the text contentwise. European and national experts furthermore discussed scenarios for the concrete implementation process of this innovative financing instrument and the possibility to support the scheme through the Cohesion Fund. Since the lower parts of the Danube are severely affected by low investment capacities of vessel operators, providing tailored funding incentives for fleet modernisation through specific Operational Programmes could be regarded as a fitting solution.
