Impacts of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) in Light of Transport Volumes on the Danube River

Dávid Nagy, András Munkácsy, Melinda Jászberényi
2019 DETUROPE  
Although the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) is a macro-regional policy document of the European Union, it pays special attention to the development of the Danube, the river it is named after. In the field of transport, an EUSDR priority area (1a) is dedicated especially to waterways mobility, addressing mainly transportation on the Danube. One of the key targets is to increase cargo transport on the river by 20% by 2020 in relation to the base year of 2010. In recent years, there is
more » ... rowing interest in analyzing the implementation of EUSDR, but inland navigation related results are still under-researched. This paper aims to fill this gap by a late mid-term evaluation of EUSDR's impact in inland waterway transport on the Danube. Therefore, projects in line with EUSDR are reviewed in order to understand the commitment and efforts of countries. On this basis, data on freight transport volumes are compared. The analysis focuses not only on single countries but also on three (Upper, Middle, and Lower) sections of the river to reveal regional characteristics and differences. Findings indicate that the expected increase of transport volumes on the Danube is not being achieved, as transport volumes declined from 2010 to 2017.
doi:10.32725/det.2019.026 fatcat:lcoeglcyajbx5ijixdqypad3gm