Waterway

Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways.

The main goals are to increase the amount of goods moved through Europe's rivers and canals and to speed up the switch to zero-emission barges by 2050.

This is in accordance with the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the European Green Deal, which set the target of boosting inland canal and short-sea shipping by 25% by 2030 and by 50% by 2050.

[1] Waterways have been an important part of human activity since prehistoric times and navigability has allowed watercraft and canals to pass through every body of water.

[citation needed] The European Conference of Ministers of Transport established in 1953 a classification of waterways that was later expanded to take into account the development of push-towing.