Abstract
Europe's waterways are a vital resource that we have underused for most of the last century. Now, with the possibility of mass autonomous shipping, these canals and rivers offer a network of opportunities for sustainable logistics. A number of operational and technological research projects aiming at setting up such systems are currently taking place. Apart from operational and technological innovations being required for such market introduction, also important legal innovations stand in the way of a successful commercial market introduction. A dedicated private law framework, taking into account the changed actors, information availability and risks resulting from the evolution to autonomous inland shipping is absent. This absence leads to legal uncertainty, can endanger the insurability of risks and increase transaction costs. With this, the private law framework can constitute an important obstacle towards the commercial use of autonomous inland shipping. This is even more relevant taking into account the mandatory nature of transport law, thus limiting the room for contractual risk management. This task will, first of all, analyse bottlenecks in the contract and collision law framework, standing in the way of legal certainty, predictability and a fair balance of interests for stakeholders involved in the operation of autonomous inland shipping. Based on this analysis and building on best practices from other fields of law and sector consultation, the task aims to propose contract drafting and an amended legal framework, ascertaining these interests.
Researcher(s)
Research team(s)
Project type(s)