The European Green Deal – Threat or Opportunity?

The European Green Deal is one of the most innovative and ambitious initiatives the EU has launched in the past years. But what impact does this large scale, Billion Euro Project have on the Inland Waterways, specifically the River Cruise Industry?

This European River Cruise Association Newsletter will focus on Naiades 3 and the challenges within the European Green Deal and the Smart Mobility Strategy.

Naiades 3 truly summarises the specific efforts by the European Union to «Boosting future-proof European Inland waterway transport.» Several scenarios and targets are set that projected traffic, emission, safety, and security on the waterways. The IG River Cruise association is in close contact through meetings and dialogue with the European Barch Union (EBU) and the International Standard Organization (ISO) to work through this directive's impact on its members. An IG representative took part in the Platina 3 funding discussions to ensure that the River Cruise Operators' voice was heard when allocating EU funds for projects related to the Inland Waterways.

The European Green Deal is the overarching structure whose combined goal is to zero emissions by 2050. Nevertheless, this is split into Social Sustainability Goals, Environmental Sustainability Goals and Economical Sustainability Goals. The ambitious goal of reducing the carbon footprint by 55% in 2030 and by 90% in 2050 when it comes to transport is also discussed in a designated IG working group. The group is tasked to calculate the CO2 emissions per sailing stretch and establish a combined model that will anticipate what investments might be needed to achieve these goals. The group meets monthly and plots the opportunities for shore power on a map, further negotiating these outlets with local communities after that.

The Smart Mobility Strategy embodies the ethos of carbon-neutral transport. Here, the EU has clearly understood the benefits of the inland waterways as a transport highway. With projected increases of 25% and 50% by 2030 and 2050, the waterways will serve as some of the environmentally most sustainable ways of shifting goods. Such an increase will also significantly impact the members of the IG River Cruise. It may be in safety due to the rise in traffic or in labour shortage due to additional demand. Whilst the EU is increasingly focused on autonomous sailing; the IG River Cruise Team has been working on a standard in Safety and Sustainability that paves the way for a unified approach to knowledge sharing, risk assessment and handling an increasing fleet of vessels on the rivers.