The EU co-finances research and development projects with the aim to contribute to the creation of new markets, to absorb new technologies and to strengthen the innovation capacity of the European industry.

Some projects on inland waterways transportation:
 COMPRIS: development and implementation of River Information Services (RIS) on the inland waterways in Europe
 CREATING: concepts to Reduce Environmental impact and to optimise logistics performance in inland shipping
 SPIN: development of a European strategy to promote inland navigation and encourage its exploitation