Developing innovative financial instruments to actively support the challenging modernisation process of the Danube fleet is a project that has to go beyond borders. The proposed State Aid Scheme in the framework of GRENDEL, expected to be finalised by the end of 2020, will serve as a basis to develop targeted harmonised financial instruments to proactively stimulate innovative vessel modernisation activities, thus contributing to the economic and environmental performance of IWT.

The drafting process of the Model State Aid Scheme has to take several aspects into consideration in order not to interfere with European legislation. It was therefore decided to organise a meeting with experts of the European institutions – namely DG COMP and DG REGIO – to discuss about the expected effects of a widely harmonised State Aid Scheme for fleet modernisation and its legal parameters. The fruitful meeting resulted in meaningful steps forward in the development process of dedicated financial instruments to stimulate the greening of the Danube fleet.