Blue Book database
Database of main standards and parameters of the E waterway network
The Blue Book database provides navigational characteristics of E waterways, as set out in Table 1 of the second revised edition of the Inventory of Main Standards and Parameters of the E Waterway Network ("Blue Book"), published by UNECE in 2012. Data include present and target values for individual E waterway sections to be achieved through modernization of existing waterways or construction of new inland water links.
The pan-European E waterway network, administered by UNECE, is enshrined in the European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN Agreement).
Data contained in the new Blue Book have been compiled and verified by the UNECE Transport Division in line with the instructions of UNECE Member States and the 17 Contracting Parties to the AGN Agreement: Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine. Finland, France, Germany and Greece have only signed the AGN Agreement.
To display data you will have to select:
1. One or more E waterways. You can search by country, number or keyword, or use the map,
2. One or more E waterway sections,
3. One or more parameters or additional information.
The Pan-European network of inland waterways of international importance or simply “E waterways” is set out in the European Agreement on Main Inland Waterways of International Importance (AGN) - a United Nations treaty adopted by the UNECE Inland Transport Committee in 1996. The AGN entered into force on 26 July 1999 and counts 17 Contracting Parties.
The AGN establishes an international legal framework laying down a coordinated plan for the development and construction by Governments of a network of inland waterways and ports of international importance, based on agreed infrastructure and operational parameters, which they intend to undertake within the framework of their relevant development programmes. The Agreement underlines the importance of inland water transport which, in comparison with other modes of inland transport, presents economic and environmental advantages and may, therefore, contribute to reducing congestion, traffic accidents and negative environmental impacts in the pan-European transport system.
The Blue Book presents a regularly updated inventory of existing and envisaged standards and parameters of E waterways and ports in Europe and shows, on an internationally comparable basis, the current inland navigation infrastructure parameters as compared to the minimum standards and parameters prescribed in the AGN Agreement. Equally, the Blue Book identifies bottlenecks and missing links in the existing E waterway network. See also the flyer.