Hungary’s wildlife endangered due to the EU project aimed at increasing cargo ship traffic on River Danube

In order to implement more frequent cargo ship traffic on the River Danube, it would be necessary to make the river 2.7 meters deep in Hungary. The cost of the investment is EUR 6.3 million, funded by the European Union in 85%. However, dredging affects protected species and Natura 2000 sites. Furthermore, humans can also be affected, as ships will pollute drinking water supplies. The public can comment on the newly published strategic environmental assessment of the development until the beginning of March.

The strategic environmental assessment of the Danube shipping development program has been completed; the investment belongs to the project entitled “Extension of the preparation for the development of the Hungarian TEN-T inland waterway”. The European Union is also a stakeholder in development. TEN-T stands for Trans-European Transport Network, a road, rail, air and waterborne transport network designed to serve the whole of the European continent. The Danube-Main-Rhine canal, which is 3,500 km long, connects eleven European countries from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The budget for domestic development is EUR 6.3 million, 85% of which is financed by the European Union.

The development aims to enable cargo ships to sail more frequently in the Hungarian section of the Danube than currently, which requires the deepening of the riverbed (to 2.7 meters depth) in Hungary.

As a result of the investment, vessels with a draft of 25 decimetres and a carrying capacity of 1300-1600 tons would be able to navigate the river for 300 days a year.

In 2018, it turned out that the investment will be carried out for a net amount of EUR 3.6 million. The project affects the Danube section between the village of Szap in Slovakia and the southern border. Nearly 52 kilometres in total (including 31 sites), need to be intervened in the section between Szob and the Southern border to improve navigability.

As Átlátszó reports, the Danube navigability project is significantly delayed due to environmental concerns. Planning started back in 2005 and was intended to be finished by 2014. WWF Hungary also raised its voice against the investment at that time, and in 2011 the green authority revoked several already valid environmental permits. In 2005, the Hungarian section of the Danube was added to the European Union’s priority transport routes, which stipulates that the river must also be made available to EU cargo ships. At the time, WWF criticised the Union for trying to favour only large shipping companies with riverbed deepening. According to the organisation, river regulation works could ruin the natural values ​​along the Danube, with many believing that “it is not the river that needs to be adapted to the boats, but the boats to the river”.