New player on the waters: E2F in France
In France, a new body has been created to promote inland navigation: On 1 November 2019, the French national chamber of craft industry (CNBA) and the French committee of river owners (CAF) agreed to set up a new organisation to speak for the fluvial transport and transport-related companies of France (E2F).
Hosting a college dedicated to boat craftsmen, the federation offers artisanal craft companies, which have had no representative body since the recent dissolution of the CNBA, the opportunity to be represented by a professional organisation on the French national level.
The country's budget for 2020 comprises a number of measures in the field of fluvial infrastructures, including the modernisation and development of the network. This is also demonstrated by the agreement on the financing of the Seine-Nord Europe Canal between the government and the Hauts-de-France communities (see ITJ Daily from November 11, 2019). (fd)