Will the Blue Belt project rules come into force by the spring of 2014?

The European Commission wants to finalise the legislative proposals emanating from the Blue Belt project, which aims at promoting the intra-European shortsea traffic, by the spring of 2013. It is the intention to have all rules come into force a year later, which would then create within the EU a ‘maritime space without barriers' with simplified customs procedures. 

The project itself was launched in the second half of 2010 during the Belgian EU-presidency.

Eventually 250 ships participated in the project. Ideally one wants to create a single e-document, comparable to the CMR used in road transport.