Inland waterway transport plays an important role for the transport of goods in Europe. More than 37.000 kilometres of waterways connect hundreds of cities and industrial regions. While 20 out of 27 Member States have inland waterways, 12 of which have an interconnected waterway network, the modal share of river transport accounts for 6% of the total inland transport in the European Union.

In 2006, almost 140 billion ton-kilometres of freight were transported by inland waterways in the Union. Fluvial transport plays a vital role in transport through the European North-west. In the hinterland of the largest seaports of the EU, the modal share of inland waterway transport can reach up to 43%.

Together with rail and short sea shipping, inland waterway transport can contribute more to rebalancing the different transport modes, as recommended by the White Paper on the European transport policy for 2010.