Berlin A few weeks ago, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing made a promise at the traditional skippers’ meal at Europe’s largest inland port in Duisburg: in 2023 he wanted to take care of the water and shipping administration. The current year was all about the railways, said the FDP politician. For him, the following applies: “Environmentally and climate-friendly logistics is not possible without inland waterway transport.”
130 entrepreneurs in the industry heard the words with mixed feelings. While hundreds of trains in Germany no longer reach their destination every day due to a dilapidated and overcrowded rail network, there is still room on the waterways.
But locks, weirs and bridges are in a desolate condition in many places. The 7,300 kilometers of rivers in the country, regardless of whether it is the Rhine, Main or Danube, lead through every large city and past many large industrial companies.
And now the Bundestag has also significantly reduced the budget for the waterways instead of increasing it to the two billion euros that experts have named as necessary. For years there has been talk of finally expanding the A1 for shipping – the Middle Rhine – so that ships do not get stranded again due to low water, as they did in the summer.
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Quite obviously, in addition to the federally owned Deutsche Bahn AG, the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) with its 12,000 employees is hardly able to keep its transport routes in good shape. Would a new administrative reform help?
Wasserstrassen GmbH or an institution under public law
Behind the scenes, an alliance has developed new proposals: Led by the Association for European Inland Shipping and Waterways, an alliance of associations, active and former WSV employees and transport politicians from the traffic light coalition wants to change the administration again – although the authority has only merged its structures in recent years and was provided with a central office in Bonn.
The structure is too hierarchical, and local initiative is being stifled, Allianz complains in an eleven-page discussion paper entitled: “The dawn of a modern administration in the 21st century”. It is available from the Handelsblatt.
The paper discusses whether the federal authority would be more efficient as a “waterway GmbH”. The previous administration wanted to renew 110 bridges, 50 locks and 30 dams within ten years. Since 2016, however, only 30 bridges, five locks and one weir have been on the plus side.
>> Read here: Minister of Transport Wissing runs out of money
A GmbH would plan under private law, build and keep the waterways in good shape. As with the federal trunk roads and the railways, another authority would take over sovereign tasks such as approval procedures. The construction industry would like that.
The outgoing maritime coordinator of the federal government, Claudia Müller (Greens), welcomes the plans. “Organizational reform could help increase efficiency,” she told Handelsblatt. It is important “in view of the shortage of skilled workers, at least to set up the structures as efficiently as possible”. And the SPD reporter Mathias Stein said: “The speed of the renovations must be increased significantly, otherwise there is a risk of further restrictions.”
Autobahn GmbH lures with 3000 euros inflation compensation bonus
However, the Autobahn GmbH has not yet recommended itself as a possible model. Since 2021, she has been responsible for federal trunk roads instead of the state administrations. There are many problems, this year alone she could not use around 400 million euros from her budget, as insiders report. Many of the approximately 14,000 positions are vacant.
In order to recommend the company as an attractive employer, the management gave the employees the tax-free inflation compensation bonus of 3000 euros in full at the end of the year. Cost: around 40 million euros.
>> Read here: “No light at the end of the tunnel” – frustration among employees of Autobahn GmbH
Accordingly, there are also voices that reject a new legal form. “A reform of the reform does not solve the problem: there is a lack of personnel and money,” said Jens Schwanen, managing director of the Federal Association of German Inland Shipping.
There is a good headquarters and many motivated employees in the local offices. But the Bundestag is cutting the budget and the federal government is cutting its staff. “We’re talking past the problem.”
The Federation of German Industries also reacted cautiously: “You can change a lot, even on a small scale,” it said. And Henning Rehbaum, transport politician of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, said: “The main problem of the WSV is not the legal form: Blitz approval procedures as with the LNG terminal and a friendly image campaign for the professions in waterway construction: That would help.”
Three boards instead of one president
Minister Wissing also rejects a new legal form. Rather, its officials have evaluated the most recent reform and intend to present an “authority strategy” soon. Part of it should be a kind of “model office”, the office on the Middle Rhine. It is about “piloting extended formats”, even if every waterway and shipping office is bound by the salaries and tariffs, the ministry explained at the request of the FDP budget politician Frank Schäffler.
Wissing rejects a major reform and instead has a new official strategy drawn up for the shipping administration.
(Photo: dpa)
“I am very much in favor of taking new paths in planning, implementation and recruitment with a model office,” Schäffler told the Handelsblatt. The lack of money alone is not the problem. “The WSV must become faster and less bureaucratic in order to remain able to act.”
>> Read here: Objections from citizens only digital – This is how Transport Minister Wissing wants to push major projects
As an alternative, Allianz proposes an institution under public law. In the short term, at least the management structure should be adjusted: the organization should no longer be run by a president, but by three managing directors or board members.
“One advantage of the multi-member board is a flatter hierarchy structure compared to the current organizational form, with clear responsibilities and shorter official channels for the specialist levels,” Allianz advertises in its paper. The transport minister is also willing to do this, as it was said in circles of the FDP.
More: Germany needs a modernization plan