As part of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the EU is working to develop a harmonised framework for crewing requirements in inland navigation supported by digital tools, which will replace the current paper version of service record books and logbooks.
There are currently no EU rules on crewing requirements for inland waterway transport. The current crewing requirements are regulated only at national and Rhine level, and do not consider new technologies or working practices that may modify the workload of the crew aboard.
The present study for the European Commission (DG MOVE) will help develop a forward-looking and flexible legal framework that enables competitiveness and increases the attractiveness and safety of inland waterway transport. The objectives of the study are to prevent further fragmentation of crewing requirements within the EU, to promote the use of digital tools and to ensure the crew’s privacy and data protection needs are met.
In order to achieve these objectives, Spark, Ecorys and TRT (Transporti e Territori) will examine the key problems in terms of crewing standards in the EU and provide an impact assessment of the potential solutions. More specifically, Spark will provide legal input in relation to fundamental rights and the GDPR, ensuring that the proposed smart crewing solutions meet the privacy and data protection needs of the crew members.
