The Danube Commission’s legal and financial working group submits for approval the 2020 budget as well as regulations on third-party projects
CONTENTS: During its November meeting (12-15.11.2019), the Danube Commission’s legal and financial working group agreed after intensive discussions on the 2020 draft budget to be submitted for adoption to the 93rd session of the Commission which will take place on 13 December 2019. The delegations also agreed on a draft Regulation which will establish a clear legal framework for the Commission’s participation to third-party funded projects. In addition, following an information provided by Ukraine, the working group decided to survey the conditions of access to Danube ports in order to monitor the practice of member states in implementing the Belgrade Convention and to identify, as a follow-up to the Interreg/DTP project DANTE, administrative barriers for navigation on the Danube River.
BACKGROUND INFO: The Danube Commission is an international organization tasked with ensuring the freedom of navigation on the Danube River. During its biannual sessions (June and December), the Commission adopts decisions and recommendations which are prepared by its working groups, including the legal and financial working group. The Dante project, financed by the Interre/DTP program of the European Union, aimed at identifying and eliminating administrative barriers for inland waterway transport on the Danube & its navigable tributaries and was set up as a joint initiative of the private sector and the national public authorities. The project ended formally in June 2019. The identification and monitoring of administrative barriers will be incooporated into the work of the Danube Commission to ensure full implementation of the DANTE objectives.
