Navigating Tomorrow: Unlocking the Future of Inland Education in Europe

On 11 May 2026, the Director-General of DC Secretariat, Mr Manfred Seitz, took part in the EDINNA General Assembly 2026 (Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia), focused on future skills and competences, harmonisation of qualifications, recruitment and labour shortages, and the role of education in a rapidly changing sector.

Along with speakers DGMOVE and the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), the Director General of the DC Secretariat addressed the audience on challenges and opportunities in the Danube region for workforce development in inland navigation. The DC mitigates for a holistic approach towards personnel issues in IWT, by creating a favourable regulatory framework, ensuring a fair level playing field, and fighting distortion of competition, as well as by countering social and environmental dumping.

The cooperation between the DC and EDINNA has recently materialised in a Joint workshop on 28 January 2026 in Budapest, in the margins of the EM Personnel, which provided DC member states with insights on education, further professional training, and continuing professional development within the context of the IWT sector in the Danube region.