The Seine-Scheldt Project
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Foreword by Nicolas Bour, Leader of the Seine-Nord Europe Mission (VNF)
« Inland waterways, a modern transport mode in an open economy »
« Today’s global economy is characterised by a concentration of production, processing, trade and consumption sites. A direct consequence of this is that transport modes which contribute most to the massification of flows have therefore a fundamental role to play. Here, particular attention should be paid to seaports, which are the real entry points and outlets for trade flows in Europe, with an average annual growth of 2 percent over the last 15 years and of more than 7 percent for overall containerised freight.
« From Le Havre to Hamburg, seaports of the northern range located in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany handle today nearly 55 percent of the whole traffic between Europe and the rest of the world. Their competitiveness, which is so essential in a global marketplace, is closely dependent on the quality of their connections to the land and, therefore, on the transport modes which allow the massification of flows from seaports to their hinterland. In this respect, the importance of inland waterways must be strongly emphasised: today, they account for an overall share of 7 percent of all goods transported in Europe. Their strategic and structural impact on the most important Northern European seaports is unique, as exemplified by the fact that they represent a modal share of more than 50 percent in ports such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.
« It is interesting to compare the numerous advantages of inland waterways with the external costs of road transport in Europe: accidents, emissions of greenhouse gases, congestion of road networks, noise, etc. According to recent estimates these negative external factors represent an aggregate cost to the community equivalent to 8 percent of the EU GDP (Gross Domestic Product). It is therefore hardly surprising that a majority of the 30 priority projects selected by the European Parliament and Council in April 2005 for inclusion in the Trans-European Transport Network Programme (TEN-T) were not related to road transport.
« Thanks to its unique flexibility, road transport is bound to remain the dominant mode of transport in France and in the rest of Europe for many years to come. But efforts go on to find more adequate solutions, as exemplified by the increasing attention given by the European Commission to alternative modes of transport and to the strategic contribution they can make to Europe today and tomorrow. This is particularly the case in the revision of the 2001 White Paper on European Transport Policy, or in the European programme for the promotion of inland waterway transport (NAIADES) launched at the beginning of 2006.
« In this general framework, the Seine-Scheldt Project will play a fundamental role, and will contribute decisively to the development of the European inland navigation world of tomorrow: a cross-border large-gauge network of canals, extending from the British Channel to the Black Sea, and offering competitive freight delivery solutions on a par with road transport. »
« Inland waterways, a modern transport mode in an open economy »
« Today’s global economy is characterised by a concentration of production, processing, trade and consumption sites. A direct consequence of this is that transport modes which contribute most to the massification of flows have therefore a fundamental role to play. Here, particular attention should be paid to seaports, which are the real entry points and outlets for trade flows in Europe, with an average annual growth of 2 percent over the last 15 years and of more than 7 percent for overall containerised freight.
« From Le Havre to Hamburg, seaports of the northern range located in France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany handle today nearly 55 percent of the whole traffic between Europe and the rest of the world. Their competitiveness, which is so essential in a global marketplace, is closely dependent on the quality of their connections to the land and, therefore, on the transport modes which allow the massification of flows from seaports to their hinterland. In this respect, the importance of inland waterways must be strongly emphasised: today, they account for an overall share of 7 percent of all goods transported in Europe. Their strategic and structural impact on the most important Northern European seaports is unique, as exemplified by the fact that they represent a modal share of more than 50 percent in ports such as Antwerp and Rotterdam.
« It is interesting to compare the numerous advantages of inland waterways with the external costs of road transport in Europe: accidents, emissions of greenhouse gases, congestion of road networks, noise, etc. According to recent estimates these negative external factors represent an aggregate cost to the community equivalent to 8 percent of the EU GDP (Gross Domestic Product). It is therefore hardly surprising that a majority of the 30 priority projects selected by the European Parliament and Council in April 2005 for inclusion in the Trans-European Transport Network Programme (TEN-T) were not related to road transport.
« Thanks to its unique flexibility, road transport is bound to remain the dominant mode of transport in France and in the rest of Europe for many years to come. But efforts go on to find more adequate solutions, as exemplified by the increasing attention given by the European Commission to alternative modes of transport and to the strategic contribution they can make to Europe today and tomorrow. This is particularly the case in the revision of the 2001 White Paper on European Transport Policy, or in the European programme for the promotion of inland waterway transport (NAIADES) launched at the beginning of 2006.
« In this general framework, the Seine-Scheldt Project will play a fundamental role, and will contribute decisively to the development of the European inland navigation world of tomorrow: a cross-border large-gauge network of canals, extending from the British Channel to the Black Sea, and offering competitive freight delivery solutions on a par with road transport. »
Nicolas Bour
Leader of the Seine-Nord Europe Mission
Voies Navigables de France
Leader of the Seine-Nord Europe Mission
Voies Navigables de France
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©
Copyright 2005-07 Seine-Scheldt Committee