The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motions for resolutions by Mr Coimbra Martins on Community measures to promote the transport of goods by inland waterway (B3-1529/90), and by Mr Borgo and others on the rational development of inland navigation in Northern Italy,

- having regard to its resolutions of 9 July 1982 on transport on the inland waterways in the Community, of 21 May 1984 on Community measures to improve the situation in the inland waterways sector, of 7 July 1988 on inland ports, of 12 September 1985 on the proposal for a regulation laying down conditions for access to the arrangements under the Revised Convention for the Navigation of the Rhine relating to vessels belonging to the Rhine Navigation, of 12 September 1986 on the proposal for a regulation laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may transport goods or passengers by inland waterway within a Member State, of 16 November 1988 on the proposal for a regulation on structural improvements in inland waterway transport, of 9 July 1991 on combined transport in the EEC - an evolving situation, and of 9 July 1991 on a Community policy on transport infrastructure,

- having regard to the report by Mr Topmann on transport and the environment, currently under consideration by its Committee on Transport and Tourism,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism,

A. whereas, in view of increasing road haulage congestion, environmental damage, noise and traffic hazards, a greater proportion of the anticipated increase in transport (other than rail transport) should be taken up by inland shipping which is environmentally friendly and which already has at its disposal a network of inland waterways with an adequate reserve capacity,

B. whereas not all of the provisions of the Treaty have yet been complied with, including Article 75(a) and (b), and, moreover, the balanced development of the EC inland navigation fleet is still being held back by various national regulations,

C. whereas inland navigation can only use its potential to the full if

(a) existing waterways are properly maintained,

(b) bottlenecks in the existing waterway network are eliminated,

(c) new links on a European scale are set up,

D. whereas only one project for the improvement of inland navigation has so far been considered for the allocation of money from the EC Infrastructure Fund and the ERDF,

E. whereas the growth of inland navigation as a component of combined and intermodal transport is being held back by the lack of cooperation with other means of transport, in particular the railways, and the lack of adequate coordination between all parties concerned with regard to the planning of terminals, distribution centres and industrial sites,

F. whereas a reasonable degree of balance between supply and demand is essential for a profitable inland fleet operating on a commercial basis,

G. whereas, given that the countries of Eastern Europe are still in the process of transition to a free market economy, vessels from third countries can only be allowed to take part in intra-Community transport on the basis of fair competition,

H. whereas navigation on the Rhine is governed by social and technical regulations, while no such regulations apply to navigation on other EC waterways,

I. whereas inland navigation, too, would benefit from a harmonized system of EC social legislation covering, for example, working conditions (health and safety in inland navigation), employee participation, training, hours of work and hours of rest and manning levels,

J. whereas there is a need for a dynamic information campaign on entrepreneurs in inland navigation, given the lack of awareness of the service potential of this transport sector;

1. Urges the Commission to develop a comprehensive transport plan aimed at enabling the various means of transport to cooperate with and complement one another and, above all, at making better use of the large reserve in capacity for goods transport on the inland waterways;

2. Calls for the prompt implementation in full of the following measures, proposed earlier, which are needed to complete the internal market in the inland waterway sector, through

(a) adoption by the Council

- of the proposal for a regulation laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may transport goods or passengers by inland waterway within a Member State approved by Parliament as early as 1986,

- of the proposal for a directive on reciprocal recognition of national boatmasters' certificates for the carriage of goods by inland navigation;

(b) the transposition into national law by the Member States

- of Directive 540/87/EEC on access to the profession which should have been carried out by 30 June 1988 at the latest,

- of Directive 75/130/EEC on the establishment of common rules for certain types of combined road/rail carriage of goods between Member States;

(c) Commission initiatives to establish equal vocational examination requirements throughout the Member States and measures to ensure that they are introduced at the same time;

(d) the elimination by the Member States of bottlenecks relating to the opening hours of waterways and port offices;

3. Calls on the Member States to give priority to maintaining their waterways, which have been neglected in many cases, and, where necessary, to improve their network of waterways by broadening and deepening them;

4. Calls on the Commission to draw up, in cooperation with the Member States and the inland navigation organizations, a list of priority infrastructure projects of European importance, to include the following:

(a) East-West transport:

- extension of the Twente Canal to meet the Mittelland Canal,

- improving the Rhine-Main-Danube link, in particular by making the waterways navigable for larger vessels by broadening and deepening them,

- deepening and improving the Elbe as far as Prague, including canalization of the Elbe upstream of Magdeburg,

- building a second ship lift at Hohenwarte;

(b) North-South transport:

- improving the Seine-Scheldt link for pushed barges with two containers,

- opening up the Meuse route to container shipping,

- completion of the final section of the Rhine-Rhône link;

(c) improving the navigability of the Tagus, the Douro and the Po, including the Milan-Cremona-Po canal;

5. Calls on the Commission to incorporate a number of these projects, which are important to Europe as a whole, in proposals eligible for co-financing from the EC infrastructure fund; calls for ERDF criteria to be extended to include projects to benefit inland navigation (waterways, port infrastructure, etc.), particularly in border regions;

6. Calls on the Commission to promote an increase in the share of inland navigation in combined and intermodal transport by

(a) setting up a system of cooperation between the various forms of transport, particularly the railways, with particular emphasis on taking advantage of the strong points of each means of transport, so that they complement one another;

(b) promoting the location of terminals, distribution centres and new industrial sites at the intersections of roads, railways and waterways, following consultation between regional, provincial and national authorities with representatives of the various transport sectors;

(c) calling on the Member States to give some thought to creating a complementary infrastructure, for instance by ensuring that bridges have sufficient clearance;

7. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and industry to take measures to achieve and maintain a reasonable degree of balance between supply and demand, with the help of the EC reorganization measures and the system of market observation, thereby encouraging market conditions under which the Commission, the inland navigation organizations and the forwarding agents can introduce more commercial elements into the current systems of 'Festfrachte' and proportional cargo allocation, thus strengthening the competitive position of inland shipping;

8. Calls on the Commission to take a coordinating role in the current phase of bilateral inland navigation agreements between Member States and third countries and to ensure that the real link system (with the possibility of imposing sanctions) currently applicable to Rhine shipping is extended to all EC inland waters; calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for the replacement of bilateral agreements by multilateral agreements (for example, where countries of Eastern Europe are concerned) on the basis of fair competition, a cost structure comparable with that of EC inland waterways, real tariffs, non-discrimination and reciprocity;

9. Calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for EC framework legislation laying down minimum conditions with regard to working hours, manning regulations and technical matters, applicable on EC waterways and based on the Rhine navigation regulations;

10. Calls on the Commission to investigate how cooperation with the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR) can be improved, in view of the increasing importance of EC inland navigation from the Commission's point of view and the fact that the CCCR has a considerable staff and great expertise in the management of Rhine shipping;

11. Recommends that the inland navigation organizations, forwarding agents and authorities in the other Member States follow the Dutch example of setting up an information office for inland shipping, in order to draw more attention to the strong points and potential of inland shipping;

12. Calls on the industry and/or the authorities to tackle the following matters together:

(a) setting up an adequate network of centres where the pollutants produced on board inland shipping vessels can be dumped, under uniform conditions;

(b) investigating the possibility of faster loading and discharge facilities,

(c) responding to new transport concepts in which reliability, 'just-in-time' delivery, telematics and links with the data systems of sea ports, forwarding agents and other modes of transport play an important part;

(d) promoting vocational and in-service-training for people working on board vessels to keep abreast of new technology;

(e) responding to new and growing markets such as the transport of household waste and manure; increasing the share of inland shipping in the transport of hazardous substances;

(f) improving safety in inland navigation (for example, technical requirements, double-walled vessels, disaster plans);

13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the inland navigation organizations.