Central issues of the Austrian EU Council Presidency
The question how politics can contribute to increasing freight tonnage carried by water transport was discussed at an international congress on inland waterway transport which took place from 13 to 15 February 2006 in Vienna in the context of the Austrian EU Presidency. The NAIADES Action Programme published by the European Commission in the beginning of 2006 served as the starting point for the congress in Vienna. The congress met with great interest from within and outside the EU – participants included more than 100 high-ranking representatives from 24 countries and numerous navigation organisations.
High-level meeting on 15 February 2006 at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna
The objective of the high-level meeting was accomplished: participants jointly formulated a uniform position on the implementation of the NAIADES Programme, which then served as the basis for the corresponding conclusions of the Council of Transport Ministers on 8 and 9 June 2006 in Luxembourg. At the end of the Austrian Presidency in the middle of 2006, the realisation of the European Action Programme had been taken one significant step further.
Further information on the NAIADES Action Programme is available at:
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