To properly tackle the matter of port legislation and funding, the consortium has focused on identifying the national experts in this field. As a result of the investigations carried out, national databases were created in six of the Danube riparian countries represented in the consortium (AT, SK, HU, RO, BG, HR). The experts selected come from various organizations like ministries, port administrations, port operators, regional and local administrative units that are responsible for enforcing rules and regulations in this field and for managing ports. At the same time representatives from the private sector have also been identified in order to ensure a balanced dialogue between the stakeholders.

Out of this wider pool of experts, a limited number will be selected to form an international working group and to collaborate with the consortium members to help prepare a set of legal recommendations concerning Danube ports. In order to further investigate the legal situation in the Danube ports, six national reports will be prepared in AT, HU, HR, SK, BG and RO, all following the same structure.  The national legal report template has been elaborated and the partners are working on preparing the draft version of the reports which will be available at the end of December 2017.  

Another important achievement is the template for the national state-aid reports which will be used by the project partners from AT, HU, HR, SK, BG and RO to elaborate national reports that will focus on the status-quo, the identification of relevant institutions involved in the provision & approval of funding for port investments and for the investigation of state-aid practices in force. Once these national reports are ready, they will be debated in national workshops which are scheduled during the first half of 2018.