The report called on the European Commission to include the EU Roadmap for Cycling in its next work agenda (#64 in the report). The EU Roadmap for Cycling is envisaged as an EU-wide strategy to assimilate and align the current relevant initiatives of the fifteen Directorates-General of the Commission, in addition to allowing for the formation of further policy measures conducive to a modal shift towards cycling. Given the European Cyclists’ Federation’s long-standing advocacy for the Roadmap – which also includes a think-tank meeting bringing together many high-level EU officials along with stakeholders, organised earlier this year – the official support of MEPs through this report is very welcome! ECF hails also the underlying principle of the report for a modal shift to safer and more sustainable modes of transport, along with the emphasis on decarbonisation (#4) and energy efficiency. Reiterating the need to have a level playing-field amongst all modes, the report emphasises how all modes of transport must internalise all external costs. Collection and consolidation of data on transport across the EU has long been an issue for better, more informed policy-making.

The Parliament report stresses the need for such data on transport users (#26), while also calling for the creation of new regional cycling networks and the expansion of the existing ones (#27). The plenary session, mentioning the need for co-modality in the same report, also approved the call for a Charter of Passenger Rights (#36), emphasizing the rights of, amongst others, cyclists wishing for bicycle carriage on long-distance train journeys. In the explanatory note for all effective provisions in the report, the MEPs highlighted the capacity of cycling to substitute many journeys of a distance less than 5 km, and the urgent necessity to upgrade and adapt urban infrastructure to accommodate for increased cycling. The approved Parliament report comes barely a month before the European Council – under the presidency of Luxembourg – hosts a meeting of all transport ministers, exclusively dedicated to cycling. The report also bodes well for ECF endeavours to advocate for the adoption of cycling in the context of Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete’s recent announcement to formulate a European Commission Communication on the Decarbonisation of Transport by early 2016.   The full report as approved by the European Parliament is available here. More information on the Luxembourg meeting on cycling available here. European Commission announcement for the Communication on Decarbonisation of Transport available here.