Danube+20: More Jobs Due to Better Inland Water Transport?

The Danube region is an area of Europe that has wide variations in terms of economic development levels and integration. There is a common belief that raising economic performance levels across these countries will deliver welfare gains and promote cooperation across borders. As part of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), a range of actions and projects have been formulated to stimulate the development of inland waterway transport, ranging from waterway infrastructure projects to port & terminal development and from educational programs to promotional initiatives. The set of measures aims to develop a more attractive and more efficient inland transport system, resulting in more effective and extended use of the Danube as a transport corridor. This development should contribute to employment growth in the IWT sector itself, in the sectors associated to IWT (e.g. ports and terminals) and in the sectors using IWT as a transport mode. To assess the possible effects of the actions and projects defined in the EUSDR, the European Commission commissioned a study, with the aim to estimate the employments levels that would be achieved if transport volumes on the Danube would increase by 20% in 2020 compared to 2010.