The increasing transport-political significance of the Danube waterway with regard to European integration and the economic development of the Danube regions was demonstrated when this transport route was designated as the Pan-European Transport Corridor VII forming part of the European Union’s trans-European transport network.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed by EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio in 2002 constitutes a milestone on the way to the establishment of the Danube as a major European transport artery. The MoU provides a flexible and efficient structure for specific action and calls for initiatives for the development of the Danube corridor. It also takes into consideration neighbouring waterways, such as the Sava and the Tisza, and the infrastructure of their ports affecting Corridor VII. Other transport modes operating along or crossing the Danube are also included (particularly rail transport). Their joint development and connection to the neighbouring corridors in the region will improve the range of transport services in the whole Danube region.
An important step in this direction was the revision of the European Union’s TEN guidelines which formed part of the so-called Van Miert report. On the basis of this report, the European Parliament adopted the new guidelines for the trans-European transport network in 2004. One of the priority projects defined under the guidelines is the improvement and international harmonisation of navigation conditions on the inland waterway transport axis Rhine/Meuse-Main-Danube, requiring the elimination of the existing infrastructural bottlenecks on the Danube in Germany (Straubing – Vilshofen), Austria (Vienna – Bratislava), Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria by 2015.
The official information site of the European Commission on the TEN-T network:
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