Glossary
A-C
ADNR
Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises dangereuses par voie de navigation du Rhin (European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods on the Rhine)
AIS
Automatic Identification System
Automatic Identification System (AIS)
AIS is a broadcast system, exchanging static, dynamic and voyage-related vessel data between equipped vessels (e.g. position, identification, velocity) and between equipped vessels and shore stations
CARDS
Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation
CO2
Carbon dioxide; important greenhouse gas
Cohesion Fund
One of the financial instruments of EU regional policy, which is intended to narrow the development disparities among regions and Member States
Combined transport
Intermodal transport where the major part of the journey is by rail, inland waterways or sea and any initial and/or final legs carried out by road are as short as possible
Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS)
The CARDS programme has been the EU's single framework of assistance for the Western Balkan countries aimed at supporting their participation in the stabilisation and association process; it was replaced by IPA in 2007
Container
Box to carry freight, strong enough for repeated use, usually stackable and fitted with devices for transfer between modes; dimensions according to the international standard DIN-ISO 668: length: 20 feet (6,058 mm) or 40 feet (12,192 mm), width: 8 feet (2,438 mm), height: 8 feet 6 inches (2,591 mm) or 9 feet 6 inches (2,895 mm)
D-F
DaTraM
Dangerous Cargo Transport Monitoring on Inland Waterways; Hungarian project co-financed by the EU
de minimis rule
De minimis aid is state aid granted to any one beneficiary which may not exceed 500,000 EUR over a period of three years; these aid measures do not fall under the notification requirement by the EU
Direct grant
Financial means flowing from a transferring authority directly to a beneficiary
EBRD
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
EEA
European Economic Area
EFTA
European Free Trade Association
EIB
European Investment Bank
Equity (capital)
Amount of capital provided by the company's owner(s); issuance of new equity gives the company new capital and increases owners' equity; issuance of new shares, to raise new capital, increases shareholders' equity
ERDF
European Regional Development Fund
EU
European Union
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
As the largest of the European Union's Structural Funds, the ERDF aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the EU by correcting imbalances between its regions
Feeder service
Short sea shipping service which connects at least two ports in order for the freight (generally containers) to be consolidated or redistributed to or from a deep sea service in one of these ports; by extension, this concept is also used for inland transport services
Foot/feet (ft.)
Unit of length; 1 foot = 304.8 mm
ft.
Foot/feet
G-J
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A satellite positioning system developed in the USA
Hinterland (of a port)
Catchment area of a port that is well connected to transport networks
Hydrodynamics
Branch of science which deals with the dynamics of fluids in motion
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)
EU Candidate Countries and Potential Candidate Countries will be aided by IPA in the period 2007–2013, replacing the EU's current pre-accession assistance, e.g. PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD and CARDS
Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA)
ISPA has provided financial support for the accession process of the EU's Candidate Countries since 1999 in the areas of transport and the environment; it was replaced by IPA in 2007
Intermodal transport
A system of transport in which two or more modes of transport are used to transport the same loading unit in an integrated manner, without loading or unloading, in a transport chain
Intermodal transport unit (ITU)
Container, swap body or semi-trailer/goods road motor vehicle suitable for intermodal transport
Intermodality
Intermodal transport
IPA
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
IRIS Europe
Implementation of River Information Services in Europe; international project co-financed by the EU
ISPA
Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession
IT
Information Technology
IWT
Inland Waterway Transport
K-O
Lighter
A vessel intended for the carriage of goods (cargo lighter) or for the carriage of goods in fixed tanks (tank lighter) and built or specially modified to be pushed, either having no motive power of its own or having only sufficient motive power to perform restricted manoeuvres when not part of a pushed convoy
Logistics
The process of designing and managing the supply chain in the wider sense
Modal share
The relative use that companies make of transportation modes, commonly expressed as percentage per transport mode
Modal shift
Shift of traffic from one mode of transport to another
Motorways of the sea
Key sea routes between EU Member States, offering regular, high-quality services that, combined with other transport modes, provide an efficient alternative to road-only transport
Multimodal transport
Transport of cargo using two or more modes of transport
NAIADES
Integrated action programme of the European Commission for the promotion of inland waterway transport in Europe, launched in 2006
NOX
Generic term for mono-nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2); these oxides are produced during combustion
P-R
PHARE
The EU's main pre-accession assistance instrument for the preparation of Candidate Countries for membership; it was replaced by IPA in 2007
PLATINA
Platform for the implementation of the European Commission's NAIADES action programme, launched in 2008 as an FP7 project
Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
Service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies
R&D
Research and development
Retrofitting
Addition of new technology or features to older systems
RIS Directive
Directive 2005/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on harmonised river information services (RIS) on inland waterways in the Community
River Information Services (RIS)
Telematics systems and information services aimed at increasing the safety and efficiency of inland waterway transport
Roll-on/roll-off (RoRo)
Loading and unloading of a road vehicle, a wagon or an ITU on or off a vessel on its own wheels or on wheels attached to it for that purpose
RoRo
Roll-on/roll-off
S-T
SAPARD
Special Accession Programme for Agricultural and Rural Development by the EU
Semi-trailer
A non-powered vehicle for the carriage of goods, intended to be coupled to a motor vehicle in such a way that a substantial part of its weight and of its load is borne by the motor vehicle
Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (FP7)
Common roof for all research-related EU initiatives bundling together specific programmes corresponding to the main areas of EU research policy
Short sea shipping
Movement of cargo by sea between ports situated in Europe as well as between ports in Europe and ports situated in non-European countries having a coastline on the enclosed seas bordering Europe
Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Defined at EU level by a set of criteria concerning the workforce, turnover and independence of the business; in terms of the workforce alone, a micro enterprise has fewer than 10 employees, a small enterprise fewer than 50 and a medium-sized enterprise fewer than 250
SME
Small and medium-sized enterprise
Soft loan
A loan with a below-market rate of interest
State aid
State aid means action by a (national, regional or local) public authority, using public resources, to favour certain undertakings or the production of certain goods
Structural Funds
Financial instruments of EU regional policy, which is intended to narrow the development disparities among regions and Member States; there are two Structural Funds: the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund
Supply chain
The material and informational interchanges in the logistical process, stretching from acquisition of raw materials to delivery of finished products to the end user, thus linking vendors, service providers and customers
Supra-structure (of a port)
Port facilities such as cranes, storage facilities or offices which are not part of a port's infrastructure (basins, quay walls, paved surfaces, railway facilities, etc.)
Surface transport
The three transport modes road, rail and waterborne
Swap body
A freight carrying unit optimised to road vehicle dimensions and fitted with handling devices for transfer between transport modes
Telematics
Integrated application of telecommunications, automation and information technologies
TEN-T
Trans-European Transport Network
Terminal
A place where a modal change takes place (e.g. within a port)
ton-kilometre (tkm)
Unit used to measure freight traffic corresponding to the carriage of one ton for one kilometre
Tonnage
The cargo a vessel can carry
Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)
Roads, railways, inland waterways, airports, seaports, inland ports and traffic management systems which serve the entire continent, carry the bulk of the long distance traffic and bring the geographical and economic areas of the EU closer together
Transhipment
Transfer of cargo between different modes of transport
Transponder
A wireless communication device able to send ("transmit") and receive ("respond") specific data; used to decipher AIS data
Tri-modal
Combination of three modes of transport; here: rail, road and inland waterway transport
U-Z
WWW
World-Wide Web
