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1. Each Member State whose inland waterways are linked to those of another Member State and the tonnage of whose fleet is above 100 000 tonnes, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Member State concerned’, shall set up, under its national legislation and with its own administrative resources, an Inland Waterways Fund, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Fund’.

2. The competent authorities in the Member States concerned shall administer the Fund. Each Member State shall involve its national organisations representing inland waterway carriers in this administration.

3. Each Fund shall have a reserve fund consisting of three separate accounts; one for dry cargo carriers, one for tanker vessels and one for pusher craft. This reserve fund shall be financed by:

— the surplus funding from the structural improvement schemes conducted up until 28 April 1999, consisting solely of financial contributions from the industry,

— the special contributions referred to in Article 4,

— the financial resources which could be made available in the event of serious disturbance of the market, as referred to in Article 7 of Directive 96/75/EC.

4. The reserve fund may be used in connection with the suitable measures referred to in Article 7 of Directive 96/75/EC and, in particular, in the course of the improvement measures organised at Community level in accordance with the procedure defined in paragraph 6 and Article 6 of the Regulation.

5. The reserve fund may be used in the course of measures referred to in Article 8 if unanimously requested by the organisations representing inland waterway transport. In this case, the measures must be the subject of an action at Community level.

6. There shall be mutual financial support between the Funds with regard to the separate accounts mentioned in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3. This shall come into play for all the expenditure and all the funding mentioned in the second subparagraph of paragraph 3, so as to quarantee equal treatment for all carriers subject to this Regulation, independently of the Fund to which the vessel belongs.

7. The Member States concerned shall continue to administer the Fund referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 1101/89 until the new Fund referred to in paragraph 1 is set up.