The Bundestag is discussing for the first time this week a bill to completely abolish shipping charges on the Mosel. According to the current announcement from the parliamentary information service Heute im Bundestag, the measure is to come into force on July 1, 2025. The basis is a joint draft by the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups to ratify the fourth amendment protocol to the Mosel treaty with France and Luxembourg (Drucksache 21/217).
With the new regulation, the coalition parliamentary groups want to completely abolish the fee regulations in the Mosel
treaty of 1956 that are still in effect. According to the draft law, the aim is for "shipping on the international Mosel to be carried out free of charges from July 1, 2025." At the same time, the protocol also provides for the removal of regulations concerning the International Mosel Commission (IMG).
The federal government views this step as a consistent continuation of the levy exemption begun in 2019 on federally owned inland waterways. With the removal of the Mosel charges, the last special case that has so far led to
a competitive disadvantage for shipping on this section would be eliminated.
The document further states: "The exemption from charges leads to an increase in the competitiveness of inland shipping and is therefore in line with the overarching transport policy goal of the federal government to strengthen environmentally and climate-friendly modes of transportation."
The draft now submitted is identical to a proposal from the previous legislative period (Drucksache 20/13089), which was introduced by the federal government at the time but was no longer dealt with by the parliament due to the change
of coalition.
If the Bundestag agrees to the new regulation, inland shippers on the Mosel could be completely exempt from charges from the middle of next year. This would put the Mosel on par with other major waterways such as the Rhine, Main, or Danube. The measure also aims to shift transport flows more to the waterways to relieve roads and railways.
The first reading of the draft law is scheduled for Thursday. Adoption is expected at the earliest in the summer. Approval in the involved neighboring countries, France and Luxembourg,
