In order to harmonize procedures at border controls, Priority Area 1A of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region has launched an online survey on border controls. The survey, aimed at shipping companies and vessel operator who are the first to be affected by border control procedures, is available in eight languages.
The Danube is the second largest river in Europe and the most international waterway in the world connecting 14 countries. Not all Danube riparian states however are EU Member States or in the Schengen area, thus required customs clearance for imports and exports as well as border checks for passengers and crews can become quite time-consuming and costly.
Priority Area 1A — To improve mobility and multimodality: inland waterways of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) is coordinated by Austria and Romania. The EUSDR thereby lends a voice to key players and stakeholders from the 14 countries of the Danube region, some of whom have been expressing their discomfort with the existing administrative processes accompanying Danube navigation.
In order to systematically collect ideas and proposals from private stakeholders, a short questionnaire was launched in cooperation with PA11 on Security. This initiative is geared towards the reduction of the administrative burden for shipping companies and vessel operators at border controls along the Danube. The recommendations compiled from the results of the questionnaire will be used to develop administrative improvements in cooperation with the responsible authorities.
Working towards the improvement of the framework conditions for navigation on the Danube will contribute to raising the attractiveness and the competitiveness of Danube transport as a whole.
The survey will stay available online until 30 March 2015. It is available in 8 languages and can be found at www.danube-navigation.eu under “survey border control”. Filling out this feedback form will take no longer than 10 minutes. The responses will be treated anonymously.