The Fairway Rehabilitation and Maintenance Master Plan and the corresponding FAIRway Danube national action plans have for the first time opened previously nationally-oriented waterway management approaches to a broader corridor vision. Here the Master Plan and its associated national action plans are effective tools for the coordination of waterway management along the Danube. We no longer think dispersed but rather corridor and all waterway managers are now working towards reaching commonly agreed objectives.

By presenting the actual status of the waterway sections in the different countries by means of selected key performance indicators, the national action plans create a high level of transparency which could not be reached until now. FAIRway Danube essentially aims at raising transparency and improving data quality. All relevant stakeholders are invited to actively contribute with feedback.

The EU Strategy for the Danube Region and FAIRway Danube have established an effective link between policy making and results on the ground. Our project is a best practice which illustrates the value added of the Master Plan; the concrete problem of insufficient waterway conditions both discussed and endorsed on the highest political level ended up in a large CEF-financed project. Through FAIRway Danube we contribute to solving these problems, linking political commitment to real-life concerns.