Budapest Convention (2005) on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Inland Waterways (CMNI): authorisation for Austria, Belgium and Poland to ratify or accede

PURPOSE: to authorise Belgium, respectively, to ratify, and Austria to accede to the Budapest Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Inland Waterways (CMNI).

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. 

CONTENT: under the proposed Decision, the Council would authorise Belgium and Poland, respectively, to ratify, and Austria to accede to the Budapest Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Inland Waterways (CMNI).

The Budapest Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Inland Waterways (CMNI) is a valuable instrument to promote inland navigation across Europe. Given that the Union is not in a position to become a Contracting Party to the Convention, Member States which have navigable inland waterways falling within the scope of the Budapest Convention should therefore be authorised to ratify or accede to the Convention.

Eleven Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Croatia, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania and the Slovak Republic are Contracting Parties to the Budapest Convention.

Austria and Poland, which have navigable inland waterways falling within the scope of the Budapest Convention, have expressed their interest in becoming Contracting Parties to the Convention. Belgium ratified the Budapest Convention after the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 by which the Union acquired exclusive external competence. The Council should therefore ex post authorise Belgium to ratify the Convention.

This Convention is applicable to any contract of carriage according to which the port of loading or the place of taking over of the goods and the port of discharge or the place of delivery of the goods are located in two different States of which at least one is a State Party to this Convention.

This Convention is applicable regardless of the nationality, place of registration or home port of the vessel or whether the vessel is a maritime or inland navigation vessel and regardless of the nationality, domicile, registered office or place of residence of the carrier, the shipper or the consignee.

For further details, please refer to the summary of the Commission’s initial legislative procedure dated 8.12.2014.