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De Vlaamse Waterweg nv

DVW

De Vlaamse Waterweg nv beheert en exploiteert de waterwegen als een krachtig netwerk dat bijdraagt aan de economie, de welvaart en de leefbaarheid van Vlaanderen.

Lobbying Activity

Response to EU industrial maritime strategy

24 Jul 2025

The European shipping and maritime manufacturing sectors are core pillars of the strategic interests of the European Union. Not only do they underpin our economic capabilities, they also contribute to the security and resilience of our supply chains and ensure the unhindered transfer of goods and resources across our continent and the globe. Inland shipping, as an integral part of the waterborne transport system, plays a key role in ensuring efficient, sustainable connectivity between ports and the hinterland. Therefore we definitely welcome a strong EU policy framework for the entire waterborne value chain, of which all aspects can be supported by a strong Sustainable Transport Investment Plan. The full Belgian Perspective can be found in annex
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Response to EU Ports Strategy

24 Jul 2025

In general de Vlaamse Waterweg nv welcomes the development of a European Port Strategy and urges policymakers to fully integrate the role of inland ports as key enablers of green logistics, climate adaptation, and strategic mobility. However, Inland Ports also have another level of investments needs and possibilities, and this without additional legislation. Key Recommendations Include: Foreign Direct Investments in our ports should be balanced in order to strengthen competitiveness and reduce strategic over-dependencies. Safety and Security in general are very important with regard to cyber security, digitalisation, security and supply, health and safety of dockers. Supporting the role of ports in realtion as an energy and infrastructure hub through co-financing, a clear legal framework, lowering the cost of energy, cooperation between all energy market players, Strengthening Military Mobility & Security: Inland ports are vital for European defence logistics. Early consultation on dual-use infrastructure and stronger cybersecurity and physical security guidelines is therefore key. Streamlining Permitting: Accelerated and harmonised permitting processes are essential to enable timely infrastructure investments. Reducing Administrative Burdens: Inland portsoften publicly owned and modest in sizeneed proportionate reporting requirements under CSRD and related regulations. Improving Funding Access: EFIP urges the creation of a dedicated Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) envelope for small and medium-sized projects, alongside greater transparency in the selection process. Enhancing Climate Resilience: Ports face growing climate risks, including droughts and flooding. The Port Strategy must provide guidance on climate adaptation and resilience-building. In this we support the vision of the Flemish Governement and the European Federation of Inland Ports, both full visions can be found in annex
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Response to European Water Resilience Strategy

28 Feb 2025

De Vlaamse Waterweg is als beheerder van de bevaarbare waterlopen en kanalen in Vlaanderen sterk betrokken bij de doelstellingen van de EU-strategie voor waterweerbaarheid. Als partner binnen de Coördinatiecommissie Integraal Waterbeleid (CIW) schreven we in 2024 mee aan het memorandum van Samen werken aan een gezond en robuust watersysteem, met als eerste kerntaak het creëren van een veerkrachtige en klimaatrobuuste regio. Eén van de concrete middelen betreft het vastleggen van strategische doelstellingen voor waterzekerheid, in overleg met de stakeholders. Dit moeten heldere en gebiedsdekkende doelstellingen worden, zowel voor waterschaarste als voor overstromingen. Op basis hiervan kunnen met de betrokken stakeholders risicobeoordelingen gebeuren die gebiedsspecifiek aangeven welke maatregelen nodig zijn. Op deze manier kan een gedragen proces lopen voor planvorming, prioritering en financiering van de terreinmaatregelen rond waterweerbaarheid. Dit initiatief in Vlaanderen lijkt zeer complementair met de doelstellingen rond waterzekerheid en -weerbaarheid zoals opgenomen in het initiatief. Het bovenvermelde memorandum putte uit voorstellen uit Weerbaar Waterland, een advies van het expertenpanel hoogwaterbeveiliging aan de Vlaamse Regering (2022). Naast de taakstellende water(zekerheids)doelen zoals hierboven vermeld, werd daarin ook de noodzaak herhaald tot structurele financiering. Er is immers een structureel financieringstekort: zowel de middelen voor investeringen, onderhoud en beheer als de uitvoeringscapaciteit zijn onvoldoende. Voor Vlaanderen zal ten laatste één jaar na het aantreden van de Vlaamse regering een Blue Deal nota vermelden wat de doelstellingen zijn en welke structurele financiering ter beschikking gesteld wordt voor verbetering van de waterkwaliteit, vermindering van de overstromingsrisico's en vermindering van de risico's op waterschaarste door droogte. Het is echter duidelijk dat de uitdagingen voor het waterbeheer (klimaatverstoring, vervuiling, biodiversiteitscrisis,) vele malen groter zijn dan de beschikbare middelen op niveau van regios of lidstaten: er is een urgente nood aan aanvullende Europese middelen om antwoorden te bieden aan deze uitdagingen. Duurzaam omgaan met water als grondstof impliceert een robuust maar wendbaar regelgevings- en vergunningenkader, waarbij rekening wordt gehouden met de grenzen van de milieugebruiksruimte. Momenteel is er in Vlaanderen echter een duidelijk spanningsveld tussen de juridische context van de kaderrichtlijn Water en het intens gebruikt watersysteem. De rechtszekerheid van aanpassingen aan het watersysteem wordt precair. Zowel overheidsinvesteringen in het watersysteem als economische ontwikkelingen zijn afhankelijk van een duidelijk speelveld om de nodige vergunningen te kunnen bekomen. Er is nood aan meer concrete richtsnoeren om de water gerelateerde vergunningsproblematiek het hoofd te kunnen bieden. Ook op internationaal niveau draagt Vlaanderen bij aan het creëren van een waterweerbare omgeving. Vanuit de Benelux-samenwerking tekenden Vlaanderen, Nederland en Luxemburg de Routekaart voor een betere transnationale waterveiligheid, waarin afspraken gemaakt worden ter verbetering van in eerste instantie overstromingsrisicobeheer. Toch kan waterschaarsterisicobeheer hier niet los van gezien worden omdat overstromingsmaatregelen vaak synergiën of conflicten veroorzaken met het waterschaarsterisicobeheer (en omgekeerd). Zo werd er afgesproken om meer in te zetten op risicoanalyse binnen een grensoverschrijdende systeemaanpak, een risico-gestuurde gebiedsgerichte projectaanpak en early-warning. Ook met Frankrijk worden initiatieven in die zin genomen, onder meer in het kader van het Seine-Scheldeproject. Bi- of multilaterale samenwerkingsverbanden als deze zijn zeer nuttig, maar een meer bindend kader rond internationale waterbeheerissues vanuit het Europese niveau zou helpen om op een aantal vlakken snellere resultaten te boeken.
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Response to Ship recycling – European list of ship recycling facilities (14th edition)

26 Nov 2024

The Vlaamse Waterweg has no comments on the list of recognized ship recycling facilities. Although this list only relates to the recycling of sea-going vessels (IMO), the Vlaamse Waterweg wishes to bring the issue of end-of-life recreational boats and composites to the attention of the Commission. The Network of Stakeholders on End-of-Life Recreational Boats and Composites organized by the Commission on October 11, 2024, is therefore considered highly valuable and may hopefully result in the necessary regulatory initiatives.
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Response to Smart and flexible EU crewing rules in Inland Waterway Transport

10 Jul 2023

In order to be able to cover all the necessary topics, you can find the input of the Flemish Governement and De Vlaamse Waterweg nv in annex to the Call for Evidence regarding the EU Smart and Flexible EU Crewing rules in annex to this post
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Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament)

21 Sept 2022 · Duurzaamheid en transport: Binnenvaart in Vlaanderen en Europa - APA

Response to Harmonised river information services – revision of EU rules

7 Sept 2021

FEEDBACK ON ROADMAP ON REVISION OF RIS The revision of the RIS-Directive is very much appreciated. While the initial focus of RIS was an increase in safety and efficiency, the overall objective of RIS should evolve to also include transparency, reliability and delivering a contribution to synchromodal, resilient and climate-neutral transport. This is definitely implied in A, but could be more consistently adapted throughout the entire roadmap, e.g.: • in D “Other private sector actors of IWT supply chain operations” should be replaced by “Other private sector actors of supply chain operations, especially for IWT” • in general, the focus on multimodality should be replaced by a focus on synchromodality, in order to obtain a more future-proof approach, since synchromodality always focuses on the most optimal way of transport at each moment in time As for B: we applaud the idea to involve a dedicated standardization body (e.g. CESNI) in governance. This should be organized in a way to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the process and organization design, as stated. We fully subscribe the suggested policy measures, but we would like to point out investments in both digital and (smart) physical infrastructure should be aligned to each other, as both are equally necessary to allow optimal results for synchromodal, resilient and climate-neutral transport. C: we would like to add the cost of (human) change management to the likely economic impact. While definitely an asset for the future of IWT, the (human) change will have to be managed, not only with public authorities, but with all sector players. That being said, we believe that a likely social impact will be a more attractive, future proof IWT that can allow, amongst other advantages, a better work-life balance. An additional environmental impact should also be ‘contribution to synchromodal transport’.
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Response to Navigation And Inland Waterway Action and Development in Europe (NAIADES) III Action Plan 2021-2027

14 Jan 2021

De Vlaamse Waterweg nv thanks the Commission for reflecting the Naiades III recommendations. We would like to emphasize a number of points for the ground work of the Naiades III communication and we are at the Commission’s disposal to exchange and elaborate. • Infrastructure: Waterway authorities increasingly strive to improve the overall quality and performance of the network and want to be able to take an integrative, goal-based and adaptive approach when planning and undertaking projects on infrastructure and infrastructure services in order to realise fit-for-future waterways across borders. INE fully supports integrative approaches and we would like to emphasize that realising co-benefits is a common task for all water actors. INE asks the Commission how the integrative approaches towards ecologic, societal, economic and safety-related functions will be organised and facilitated. • Digitalisation: We would not frame the problem as if IWT is not integrated digitally in multi-modal supply chains. The problem is rather that the regulatory digital framework is not yet cross-modal which hampers multi-modal digital integration for all modes. Digitalisation takes place criss-cross in a decentralised landscape with a broad variety of players (transport modes, logistics and mobility, other sectors, public and private entities, global, European and local actors etc.). Multi-modality and subsequently synchro-modality are only viable if the different modes develop shared definitions, jointly define common standards and common goals. EU digital initiatives must ensure accessibility for all players and especially small players to enlarge the acceptance, increasing the opportunities for a modal shift. • Modal shift: INE agrees that the lack of EU accepted framework for calculating and reporting GHG emissions is problematic and hindering informed policy as well as corporate choices. A common framework will prove important to compare between modes and within the mode. In addition, we believe it is important to link modal shift policy to the EU industrial policy. The European Green Deal will guide the agricultural, energy, chemical, steel and construction sectors through a sustainable and circular transformation. Their transport volumes are well suited for inland shipping, while some traditional IWT volumes such as fossil energy will gradually decline. IWT also has untapped potential when it comes to city logistics. As the majority of European cities are on waterways and are struggling with congestion problems, local waterborne transport becomes a solution for the retail and parcel, construction, circular sectors. INE also recommends to cover river-sea shipping in the scope of the Naiades III communication in order to not miss out on any IWT potential in regions where river sea shipping is relevant and to support its development. • Innovation and alternative fuels: We fully agree with the need for a different framework as an incentive to innovate. We recommend to put in place a clear roadmap for greening towards 2050 with intermediary milestones in line with the Green Deal. For a large-scale greening of the IWT fleet, we advocate a system-wide corridor approach with cooperation between transport, energy and digitalisation public and private stakeholders covering supply, demand and infrastructure. A cluster and corridor approach requires an integrated package of measures including regulation, capacity building, support and a level playing field to create incentives and legal certainty for investors. • While the roadmap addresses passenger transport, it is not entirely clear to what extent it will be covered in the Naiades III communication. Could the Commission clarify?
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Response to Digital tools for inland waterway transport legislations

12 Jan 2018

In the Flemish Region, De Vlaamse Waterweg nv as a waterway manager, is activily engaging in developing digital tools for inland waterway transport. This through the development of River Information Services (RIS) and especially the VisuRIS tool (Visualisation of RIS). The latter is a innovative tool, which is not limited to the development of electronic charts or inland navigation related messages, but is futher developed as a tool for the acquisition of permits and the payment of duties. At this point there are several initiatives ongoing, which aim at digitizing inland navigation related documents. Initiatives that can certainly be supported, since they also have a positive effect on safety, efficiency of law enforcement and simplification of administrative procedures. Not in the least in case a ship is crossing borders. However an overall approach is lacking at this moment. In our opinion, the development of electronic inland navigation documents to replace the existing paper versions therefore is certainly a positive development. However the cost for the user also has to be taken into account, although this seems not to be a problem when weighing the pros and cons of this developement.
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