The importance of waterways seasoned with a touch of history, of European economy and new controversies
The project to connect the Danube, Elbe and Oder seems destined to be an eternal failure
An old joke at the time of the communist normalization, was recited more or less like this: Czechoslovakia declares the creation of the Ministry of the Navy. Brezhnev protests, “But you are not even on the coast!” Czechoslovakia says, “And what is the problem? You have a Ministry of Justice!” Absurdities compared. Yet, the paradox of the Navy without sea is not entirely out of place. There is a route that the Bohemian boats have used to run through Bohemia for centuries, a navigable course that directly reaches the North Sea: the Elbe. Among the longest rivers in Europe, at over one thousand kilometres in length, in the heart of the continent, from the chain of Krkonoše, in the north-east of the Czech Republic, until Hamburg. Its “crew”, where it is still called Labe, have always remained in the collective imagination of the country. We find them in the Nymburk of the omnipresent Bohumil Hrabal: mystical characters and strongmen, with anchors and mermaids tattooed on their skin, which begin in the stories of the “The Little Town Where Time Stood Still”. Also going up the river in time of war, Ladislav Mňačko told tales of Czech adventurers in the shady harbour of Dresden, that reminded the reader more of Genoa or Marseilles.
The Elbe is fully embedded in the beautiful maze of European inland waterways: the Old Continent has an unmatched widespread presence of navigable channels, accessible in total for over 37 thousand kilometres. For historical reasons, the network involves mainly Central Europe, from the Seine to the Danube through the Meuse, the Rhine, the Ruhr, the Po, and, indeed the Elbe. In the nineteenth century more ships passed through here than on the Rhine (a fact: in 1888 alone the Germany of Otto von Bismarck secured 320 km of its banks). In the second half of the twentieth century the inland waterway transport sector lost ground in the race, with faster transport by road or rail, without losing its strategic role, and more importantly, its potential. Suffice it to say that the largest European seaport, Rotterdam, moved a third of their goods via inland waterways. The data provided from Brussels (updated September 2013) are surprising: each year 140 billion ton-kilometers are transported in this way through the 240 river ports of the European Union. The transport on the river also has less impact on the environment: about 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions of road transport. Not to mention the extremely small shareof accidents during transport. Crucial numbers for an industry commonly considered less important. Indeed for a while, it has been expected that improving efficiency could bring huge benefits to European economies, especially since the enlargement of the Union has reduced its historical borders, but often without finding the political desire necessary (translated: adequate financial resources). This is the case of the ambitious plan to connect the Danube to the Elbe and the Oder (another great European river that starts in the Czech lands, this time in the Moravian province of Olomouc), which would link the Black Sea to the North Sea, all together, in ten European countries. The project dates back to a long time ago (it is said to have already been an idea of the Emperor Charles IV), and was also seen as crucial by the Nazis in their tragic advance eastwards. A stretch of the canal that connects the Oder to the city of what today is Gliwice, Silesia in Poland, was baptized Adolf-Hitler-Kanal under the eyes of a smug Rudolf Hess in December 1939. The idea was to create a series of canals to get to Vienna, using the Vltava (entering the Danube shortly after the Austrian capital) as a “bridge”. It took several years for the project to be picked up again, despite the timid but recurring proposals of the Polish and Czechoslovak Communist governments during the ‘70s and ‘80s.The idea of being at the centre of this amazing river crossing must in fact have aggravated many economists of the new Czech Republic’s market. Therefore, June 1997 marked a first step, when the then Prime Minister Václav Klaus landed in Helsinki to sign the Agreement on European internal transport (AGN), in which Elbe is listed as one of the protagonists of the future development of river courses – in perspective once again link the Danube-Oder-Elbe. The agreement turned out to be more of a gentlemen’s agreement than a real turning point, and the promises vanished into thin air. Skepticism, both yesterday and today, comes from the large costs of canalization work, and in the criticism from environmentalists, who fear harmful consequences, fears which seem completely legitimate, even if with better eco-efficiency of inland waterway transport compared to road transport, logic would lead to criticism the whole distribution of imports/exports of a country, yet it does not seem to be the case. Yet, among the critics, skeptics and those lacking any opinion, in recent years something has changed. Almost surprisingly, an important impetus came from the other side of the world. In 2005, China was the first country to re-open the dances on the Bohemian rivers, with the acquisition by a Shanghai company (the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding) of a portion of the České Loděnice yards, where the Elbe arrives in Děčín, as well as an investment worth one billion crowns. The new joint venture brought new orders together and work is being started, mainly towards Germany and the Netherlands. In 2007, a new feasibility study is being launched to improve traffic flow, and again in 2008 and 2010, but regularly, it must be said, it turns out to be a failure. Yet production has resumed and with this economic stimulus it is starting to take effect. In 2012 the work picked up on the Elbe, with its navigability (a total of 260 in the Czech Republic) extending about thirty kilometres, while the intermodal connections of Děčín and Pardubice are being improved. The time has therefore arrived, to talk again about the elusive Danube-Oder-Elbe project, this time with a fantastic sponsor. Even during the election campaign, in January 2013, President Miloš Zeman announced his commitment to revive the project with 400 billion Crowns. Also a few months later, the echo would come from the Rusnok government supported by him, with the Minister of Transport Zdeněk Žák resonantly stating “we’d be crazy not to back the need to build the canal between the Danube, the Oder and the Elbe”. Months passed and the project, despite the pharaonic costs, seemed almost within reach, especially with the new EU memorandum on the development of inland navigation in September 2013 (that augurs new investments under the program called Naiades II), and the news, two months later, on December 11, when the aforementioned České Loděnice of Děčín launched the largest vessel ever built in the country, at 90 metres long and 4500 tons of Dutch goods. However, through its spokesman in the sector, the new Minister of Transport Antonín Prachař of liberal (and entrepreneurial) ANO party of Andrej Babiš, the new government has placed another spoke in the wheel. Since taking office on January 29 last year, he has made it clear that the project of the two seas, is not a priority of the government. In fact, he said, it is useless, so as to block the feasibility study expected and advised concentrating on smaller projects. The twist in the project caused President Zeman to go beserk, since he had invested a lot in the project, at least politically speaking. The last meeting between the two, on March 25, ended with a diplomatic statement in which the Minister ensured the pursuit of regional and European support for the development of the idea in an unlikely future. Meanwhile, news arrived as wet blanket for Zeman: the European Commission, after mentioning the Elbe in the Ten-T draft as a priority in the improvement of roads in Europe, made an unexpected U-turn by announcing the probable suspension of funding for internal navigation. Now Zeman promises a battle in Brussels. Yet another twist on the river bank of a dance that apparently, is far from being over.
by Giuseppe Picheca