On 18th December 2018, headed by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the Ministry for Regional Development of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute for International Politics, a round table discussion was held on the topic “Mobility on the Danube with joint efforts”. The goal of the event was to support the EUSDR in the Ukraine and to consolidate efforts to shape the priorities of Ukraine in PA1a.

The event brought together key players in the development of inland navigation both in the EU and in Ukraine. The Support Group for Ukraine in the European Commission and the coordination team of PA1a outlined common tasks for solving obstacles to navigation and improving cross-border cooperation.

The Ministry of Infrastructure affirmed multimodality and water mobility as one of the key priorities at the national level. At the moment, a plan for the development of water trade routes for Ukraine has been agreed, which envisages modernization, reconstruction, increase of capacities and improvement of services in the navigable Danube area. At the international level, the integration of Ukraine into the TEN-T network and the development of cruise shipping has been identified as one of the priorities. To support passenger traffic on the Danube River, it is necessary to involve leading European companies and strengthen the cross-border cooperation component.

During the meeting practical instruments for the development of the Danube infrastructure were also presented. Especially the ESPON programme and the launching of the 3rd call of DTP were discussed. The PA1a coordination team presented best practices of project implementation in the EU (NEWADA, FAIRway Danube, DANTE and DAPhNE projects in particular). The Danube Strategy Point was also introduced as a supportive body for the EUSDR stakeholders emphasizing the providing of support in the projects implementation for Ukraine.