ESO looks after the interests of the European private inland shipping entrepreneurs on the European level. The ESO-Council is composed of representatives of Belgian, Dutch, French, German and Polish inland waterway transport organisations. Mr. Jan Veldman is the independent president.

The European Skippers Organisation was founded in 1975 in Brussels to make the voice of the independent IWT entrepreneurs clearly heard by the former EEC,the nowadays EU. Since then, ‘Brussels’ has come to see inland waterway transport (IWT) as a serious and sustainable alternative.

ESO is the interlocutor of the European Commission (DG-MOVE) and the Central Rhineshipping Committee (CCR) and participates in many working groups, which are often established on demand of ESO. Together with the colleages of the European Barge Union (EBU) a nautical-technical commission has been formed to advise the EC and CCR.

Over the years, ESO has occupied itself in the interest of independant entrepreneurs with various matters, such as market regulation, fleet renewal, use of reserve funds, market observation, waterway bottlenecks, inland shipping promotion, crew regulation, training, accommodation, environmental problems, River Information Services etc.