BRUSSELS – The European Commission has approved subsidies that the Flemish government wants to grant for every container that is transferred to or from an inland shipping terminal or vessel. The Commission decided this on Thursday.

At the moment the transport of containers via inland waterways is more expensive than by road. This is primarily because the costs for transferring from vessel to vessel are markedly higher.

The government hopes that subsidies can help make this form of transport more affordable and give a boost to inland shipping in Flanders.

The European Commission does not see any problem with the support scheme since the subsidies are limited to the additional costs associated with loading containers from vessel to vessel.

[Copyright Expatica News 2007]

Subject: Belgian news