Sustainable solutions, automation and digitalisation as well as communication on a European level will be part of the education and training programmes. The ultimate goal of the project is to increase labour mobility in the inland shipping sector. COMPETING is an Erasmus+ project. The duration of COMPETING is from the 1st of January 2019 until the 31st December 2021.
COMPETING will develop curricula and lesson materials as well as a Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) system to ensure the highest level of quality concerning the implementation of future proof IWT (Inland Waterway Transport) education and training throughout the EU. There are fifteen partners participating in this project.The COMPETING consortium consists of different categories of stakeholders such as: (i) IWT education and training institutes, which have to modify their lesson programmes towards a European wide competency-based recognised education and training programme, (ii) social partners (employers and unions) representing the industry and crew members working in the industry and (iii) competent authorities and umbrella organisations as well as members of the Advisory Board.
For the first time all key stakeholders cooperate on an European level to develop an European wide recognised and modern curriculum for IWT, in combination with lesson materials as well as a Quality Assurance /Quality Control system (QA/QC). These achievements will in the end lead to the implementation of EU legislation, resulting in a comparable system for the recognition of educational programmes and properly qualified crew with the possession of a Union certificate.
Details on the progress of the project can be found in the December newsletter here.
Developing innovative financial instruments to actively support the challenging modernisation process of the Danube fleet is a project that has to go beyond borders. The proposed State Aid Scheme in the framework of GRENDEL, expected to be finalised by the end of 2020, will serve as a basis to develop targeted harmonised financial instruments to proactively stimulate innovative vessel modernisation activities, thus contributing to the economic and environmental performance of IWT.
The drafting process of the Model State Aid Scheme has to take several aspects into consideration in order not to interfere with European legislation. It was therefore decided to organise a meeting with experts of the European institutions – namely DG COMP and DG REGIO – to discuss about the expected effects of a widely harmonised State Aid Scheme for fleet modernisation and its legal implications for beneficiaries. The fruitful meeting resulted in meaningful steps forward in the development process of dedicated financial instruments to stimulate the greening of the Danube fleet.
The General Secretary of Pro Danube International, Mr. Róbert Rafael, was invited to participate at the discussions held on the current status of the Draft Recommendations for the Development of Common, Harmonized Guidelines/Standars for Good Navigation Status.
In order to efficiently adapt inland waterway transport (IWT) to the needs and requirements of emerging industries, Pro Danube International stated that its members require the creation of adequate rules, recommendations and guidelines by using the corridor approach as a fundamental basis of future policies. This approach has the potential to make IWT more competitive and a reliable alternative to other, more polluting modes of transport.
The European Parliament adopted earlier this year a Motion for a Resolution to urge the European Commission to update and renew the NAIADES action programme by 2020 in order to ensure that the potential of inland waterway transport (IWT) as a safe, sustainable and effective mode of transport can be fully exploited. With IWT having sufficient capacity to absorb much higher volumes of freight and passengers, the resolution calls for proactive policies aimed at supporting the sector in view of the digital, technological and environmental challenges in logistics and mobility.
Due to its demonstrated level of expertise in the inland navigation sector and its efficiency in representating the industry in the European decision making process, Pro Danube International was invited to actively participate in a stakeholder workshop organised in Brussels, giving input especially to the thematic fields dealing with the modernisation process of the fleet and the efficient integration of IWT into logistics planing by means of digitalisation.
The core objective of this meeting was to prepare a comprehensive set of recommendations that will be adopted at the upcoming NAIADES Expert Group Meeting in order to be presented to the newly elected European Commission. Pro Danube International was represented by its General Secretary, Mr. Róbert Rafael and Ms. Lucia Karpatyova.
