PLATINA II is a coordination and support action aimed at the promotion of inland waterway transport (IWT). The main objective of PLATINA II is to support the Commission, Member States and third countries in the implementation of the NAIADES I and II action programmes by bringing together all relevant actors concerned in a broad knowledge network, thereby maximising its contribution to the European policy goals mentioned above. This will be achieved by:• Providing technical and organisational support for targeted policy actions: Together with the European Commission, PLATINA II will identify the necessary policy actions, bring together the required stakeholders (working groups, expert meetings) and develop the necessary knowledge and tools in order to contribute to the achievement of the objectives in all five NAIADES action areas.• Building on strong interrelations with existing expert groups, projects and initiatives: The European added value of PLATINA II is to create synergies at the European level through an increased exchange of know-how, while at the same time respecting and supporting existing decision-making structures. Through the multi-disciplinary composition of its working programme and consortium, PLATINA II will be a flexible platform that can effectively react to emerging policy needs in the field of inland waterway transport. PLATINA II strongly builds on the results of the PLATINA project (2008-2012).Need and added value for Danube Region Strategy:Europes freight transport system has much room for improvement. Congestion, capacity problems and delays affect mobility and economic competitiveness and are detrimental to the environment and quality of life.The EU has committed itself to pursue the goal of shifting transport to less energy-intensive, cleaner and safer transport modes. Inland waterway transport is an obvious choice to play a more prominent role in reaching these targets.Given that inland navigation is often a cross-border transport mode, action at both national and Community level is required. This is why the European Commission developed the action programme NAIADES, which aims at promoting IWT in Europe through a broad range of activities. PLATINA II as the follow-up project of PLATINA will continue the coordination platform to implement the action programme.The activities of PLATINA II aim at the whole European Union, as IWT is relevant for most of the countries. For the Danube region though, they are of special relevance, as the Danube is not only among the major inland waterways of Europe but also the most international waterway in the world. It exhibits pronounced disparities concerning navigation and socio-economic conditions alongside its course. Due to this, the broad set of measures applied by PLATINA II, addressing issues concerning markets & awareness, innovation & fleet, jobs & skills and infrastructure, are expected to have profound impact on the Danube region.PLATINA II represents an essential framework for the Danube Region Strategy, accounting for the pan-European perspective and setting the topical parameters for strategy building and action implementation of the EUSDR.Transboundary impact:PLATINA II addresses all European countries with inland waterway transport, as many of the project measures and results are relevant for all of Europe (e.g. identifying research needs). Furthermore, a corridor approach will be applied, e.g. when preparing decision support tools for logistics.The consortium itself consists of players from Austria, France, The Netherlands, Romania, Croatia, Belgium and Germany. Furthermore, the PLATINA II consortium has received support from key Member States, candidate countries and associated countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovak Republic, Poland, Serbia Participation in Steering Committee meetings will however not be restricted to these countries. Other Member States will be invited to Steering Committee meetings during the project and in coordination with the European Commission.As a consequence, the focus of the measures will lie on these countries.