19. Considers that maritime and river transport cannot be considered in isolation from land and air transport and that links to a port's hinterland are of great importance to its commercial success, and that it is therefore necessary to establish interconnections between ports, inland logistics platforms and "dry ports"; with this in mind, also believes that the co-modal participation of ports is needed in relation to both the trans-European transport networks (TEN-Ts) and the future Community green corridors to ensure better exploitation of transport capacity in the area of cabotage and river transport, and also as regards connections ...[+++]with land and air transport, so as to ensure a coherent and genuine transport policy;

As major waterways exist only in certain Member States, inland waterway transport accounts for only 3% of overall goods transport; this mode of transport still harbours considerable unexploited potential.

This directive establishes a European Union (EU) framework for the implementation and use of harmonised river information services (RIS) in order to enhance the safety, efficiency and environmental friendliness of inland waterway transport as well as to ensure compatibility and interoperability with other modes of transport.

Numerous industrial projects have already benefited from its programme: the ‘Kombiverkehr’ project which served to introduce a multimodal train-ferry service between Italy and Sweden, ‘Lokomotiv’, which has linked Germany and Italy by intermodal rail services run by private rail companies, ‘Oy Langh Ship’, which introduced an intermodal service combining maritime, rail and river transport between Finland and Central Europe, etc.

Numerous industrial projects have already benefited from its programme: the ‘Kombiverkehr’ project which served to introduce a multimodal train-ferry service between Italy and Sweden, ‘Lokomotiv’, which has linked Germany and Italy by intermodal rail services run by private rail companies, ‘Oy Langh Ship’, which introduced an intermodal service combining maritime, rail and river transport between Finland and Central Europe, etc.

[8] It currently covers the following multisectoral organisations and sectors: textiles, distributive trades, construction, banking, insurance, postal services, telecommunications, road transport, air transport, rail transport, inland waterway transport, sea transport, electricity, agriculture, local public services, hotels, restaurants and catering, personal services.