National and international inland waterway transport: systems of chartering and pricing

In adopting the report by Mr Leen van der WAAL (EDN, NL), the European Parliament approved, with amendments, the Commission proposal aimed at liberalizing, restructuring and promoting inland waterway transport. The EP called, in particular, for the system of minimum compulsory tariffs and systems of chartering by rotation not to be maintained beyond 1 January 1999. In order to be able to respond to imbalances in the transport market even after completion of the liberalization programme, the Commission was asked to submit before 1 January 1998 two proposals with a view to: - extending the 'old for new' system (i.e. discouraging the building of new vessels by varying the ratio between the tonnage to be scrapped and new tonnage taken into service) by five years, to 28 April 2004; - establishing a fund, using contributions from the inland waterway transport industry, allowing the withdrawal of vessels from the market by means of scrapping in new situations of overcapacity. The EP called on the Commission to pursue an accompanying social policy under which an uncompromising form of restructuring could be avoided. �