Joint Workshop on the Review of Fairway Conditions on the Danube in 2024

On 4 March, the Danube Commission (DC) and EUSDR PA1A organized a joint workshop on the topic of the “Review of Fairway Conditions on the Danube in 2024”. The event was held back-to-back with the Expert Meeting on Hydrotechnical Matters, as part of the implementation of the Grant III agreement between the DC and the European Commission. Over 40 participants from member states’ waterway administrations and representatives of the navigation sector took part in the meeting.

Welcoming remarks were given by Mr. Manfred Seitz, Director General of the Danube Commission, and Mr. Markus Simoner, Priority Area PA1a Coordinator. The special guest of the meeting was Mr. Herbert Pribitzer, EC/DG MOVE, the newly appointed advisor to the TEN-T Rhine-Danube Corridor Coordinator. Mr. Pribitzer highlighted the importance the EC is giving to increasing resilience of waterways, an absolute must for the coming period due to the low flow foreseen in the Danube River as a result of the impact of climate change on the hydrological conditions of the Danube.

DC member states administrations (Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania) presented the maintenance activities carried out in the previous year and an assessment of the fairway conditions in 2024. Representatives from the navigation sector engaged in an exchange of views on the status of the fairway conditions at critical sectors along the Danube River.

The Austrian waterway administration viadonau, acting as technical secretariat of the EUSDR/PA1A, presented the status of the Fairway Rehabilitation and Maintenance Master Plan. The project coordinator of the CEF 2 funded project ”FAIRway Danube II” (viadonau), presented the activities executed so far within the project, as well as the planned activities in different work packages, by project partners from Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. Experts from Romania and Bulgaria provided updates on the implementation status of the FAST DANUBE 2 Project. The Danube Commission Secretariat briefed on activities within the process of the preparation of the new Joint Statement (JS 2.0 Process).

This workshop provided a great opportunity for both waterway administrations and the navigation sector to exchange ideas and continue working together in providing safe inland navigation conditions in light of existing climate change impacts.

Presentations: