In 2022 we began to move beyond a world dominated by COVID-19. The shocking invasion of Ukraine with its human tragedies and economic toll, the need to accelerate efforts to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and the increasing urgency of addressing climate change dominated headlines and debate: ECF demonstrated throughout the year how cycling can help address these challenges today, and advocated for a much stronger role for cycling in shaping our future.

Cycling to Save Energy

The war in Ukraine sparked an energy crisis that exposed Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels and put a spotlight on sustainable mobility as a solution to save energy and cushion the impact of dramatic gas and oil price rises. ECF, alongside our advocacy partners Cycling Industries Europe (CIE) and the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry (CONEBI) published a joint manifesto containing eight recommendations on how the EU, national governments and individuals can use cycling to lessen dependence on fossil fuels and achieve significant fuel savings. This manifesto is an important contribution to the debate on energy saving, highlighting how more cycling, especially in urban areas, is a key measure to rapidly achieve REPowerEU and Save Energy goals.

Bicycles for Ukraine

In strong solidarity with our Ukrainian member organisation U Cycle, ECF promoted the #BikesForUkraine initiative, which organises the collection and transport of bicycles to Ukraine where they can be used to provide critical services, often in cities where fuel is scarce and cycling is the only mobility option. U Cycle representatives gave a moving presentation on the current situation in Ukraine and on their initiative at our Annual General Meeting in Berlin in May. The staff of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE) took up the cause, organising a bike collection to support the #BikesForUkraine campaign.

COP27: Make way for walking and cycling

In 2021, ECF and our allies took a campaign to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to ensure world leaders embraced active mobility as part of plans to decarbonise land transport. Our open letter, signed by 350 organisations managed to secure a historic reference to active mobility in the COP26 transport declaration. Building on this work, in 2022 we joined forces with the FIA Foundation, Walk21 and UNEP in a core group to create the Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH). With other key members of the sustainable mobility community, the coalition calls on governments and cities to make a real commitment to walking and cycling as a key solution to climate, health and equity challenges.

The coalition launched PATH in October and published a landmark report that informs and makes the case for greater investment in walking and cycling: Make way for walking and cycling.

Armed with data and evidence from the report, members of PATH were present during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, including ECF CEO, Jill Warren. Calling on world leaders and city leaders to step up and invest more in walking and cycling, over 400 organisations from 73 countries signed PATH’s COP27 open letter. ECF and Walk21 CEOs presented the letter at COP27 to representatives of the governments of Egypt, Ethiopia, the Netherlands and Portugal, and promoted its aims in a wide range of events and meetings at the conference.

ECF CEO Jill Warren speaks at COP27 (Source: ECF)

Towards an EU cycling strategy

ECF has long advocated for a joined up, holistic EU Cycling Strategy that treats cycling as a fully fledged mode of transport. In 2022 significant progress was made towards this goal. In June of this year, MEP Karima Delli, Chair of the EU Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism, announced at a cycling summit in Copenhagen preceding the Grand Départ of the 2022 Tour de France that a Cycling Declaration would be fast-tracked. EU Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans, speaking at the same event, pledged his support for an EU cycling declaration and acknowledged that the EU has a role to play in formulating cycling policy and supporting measures to grow cycling in Europe. Our ongoing engagement with Timmermans and his advisers the past months and years have helped secure his support to further grow cycling in Europe.

Jill Warren, ECF President Henk Swarttouw and CIE staff meet with European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans (Source: ecf.com)

Following these announcements, together with our advocacy partners in industry we have been supporting and engaging with decision makers in the European Parliament to help ensure a resolution which calls for a strong and effective EU Cycling Strategy. In the new year, the European Parliament is expected to vote on the resolution, which ECF and its partners have actively contributed to, and we will continue this important advocacy work throughout 2023.

Growing national momentum for cycling

This year has seen growing momentum at the national level to support and grow cycling. On World Bicycle Day on 3 June, it was announced that six EU countries had signed the “European Bicycle Declaration”. Led by Belgium, the initiative was announced by the country’s transport minister, Georges Gilkinet, during an ECF organised webinar. As we close out the year, ten EU member states have so far signed the declaration. ECF’s efforts and collaboration have been instrumental in convincing additional countries to sign the declaration. Greece’s signature was facilitated by ECF, and in December we hosted a very fruitful meeting with the Greek Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport at ECF’s offices to discuss the country’s progress and priorities on cycling. We are pleased to see the appetite for national support as well as for a more joined-up European approach is growing. Together with our members, ECF will continue to engage with national governments to encourage signing of the Declaration.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet speaks at ECF's WBD webinar (Source: World Bicycle Day 2022: How will the bicycle shape our future?)

In January 2022 we published a report on the state of national cycling strategies in Europe, covering 44 countries, and an update at the end of the year. This initiative was ECF’s first analysis of national cycling strategies in many years, and we know it has been closely read by many national transport ministries who are interested to show they are making progress on cycling. The analysis revealed recent developments, such as Italy’s adoption of its first ever national cycling strategy, England’s Second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, and France’s new Cycling and Active Mobility Plan 2022-2027, as well as gaps that remain to be filled. The report generated further interest, not only from our own members and networks and from industry, but also from some of the 20+ national governments that do not currently have a strategy who have sought our advice on how to develop one. The report has also inspired a parallel analysis of national walking strategies that is being conducted by our friends at Walk21.

Progress made with eyes on the prize

Throughout the year, ECF worked closely to advance the cause of cycling within the revisions of both the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) guidelines, and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). At the end of the year, both files contain significant improvements on cycling which are directly connected to the persistent advocacy ECF engaged in during 2022. With our campaign to have cycling projects and the EuroVelo network integrated into the TEN-T network – the EU’s flagship transport infrastructure network – we were busy throughout the year meeting MEPs and decision makers to make our case. Meanwhile, we took part in major events, such as the TEN-T days in Lyon and a visit of the European Parliament to northern France.

We believe we have successfully influenced many of the good positions of members states and the European Parliament in the latest TEN-T legislative draft texts. These include requirements for integrating cycling infrastructure into TEN-T road and rail projects; introducing a definition of EuroVelo to the draft; extending the definition of active modes to cover e-bikes; and ensuring health is included as an element in cost-benefit analyses that are performed before TEN-T projects are implemented.

ECF's Policy Officer Aleksander Buczynski at Connecting Europe Days in Lyon, France (Source: ECF)

When it comes to the EPBD, ECF welcomes the most recent developments, with member states affirming that more bicycle parking must be required in each new and renovated residential and non-residential building.

In terms of wider policy priorities in Brussels, ECF was selected as a member of the European Commission Expert Group on Urban Mobility which provides a forum to us to exchange views, share our expertise and advocate for the growth and improvement of cycling in cities.

One of our advocacy successes of 2021 also started to bear fruit: Portugal became the first EU member state to apply reduced VAT rates of only 6% on the sale of bicycles. The EU legislation allowing member states to charge reduced VAT on bicycle supply, repair and rental was championed by ECF, and we look forward to other countries following Portugal’s example.

EuroVelo’s silver anniversary

2022 was a year to remember for EuroVelo – as we celebrated 25 years of the European Cycle Route Network! To mark this important milestone, we released downloadable GPX tracks of the EuroVelo network. A much requested feature, the availability of these tracks means users can plot a route to follow on their GPS devices or smartphones.

The release of this feature came at an opportune time – as the interest in cycling tourism as a form of sustainable tourism continues to grow. Against 2022’s backdrop of reopening international borders, and the end to COVID travel controls, we saw an 11% increase in use of the EuroVelo network from January to October compared to 2019. In 2022, over 2,500km of routes have been newly developed. Alongside this, we saw a 31% increase in the number of visitors to EuroVelo.com between 2020 and 2021. And for 2022 we expect to see an even greater interest in EuroVelo, as observed through its Data Hub.

To mark this anniversary year, a special event was organised: 25 Years of EuroVelo. With 15 speakers, including some of the founders of EuroVelo, and over 550 registrations, the event was a moment to come together and celebrate. Relive it here.

The post-COVID Velo-city: Ljubljana 2022

2022 was a special year for Velo-city. After two editions of the world’s biggest cycling conference being impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, this year finally took place in a close to normal setting, with no social distancing and plenty of physical interaction! Velo-citizens were welcomed in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, where inspiring panels and speeches alongside the famous bicycle parade, ensured the event lived up to its theme of Cycling the Change!

Hosting Velo-city in Ljubljana also helped bring advances in the city’s cycling infrastructure. Some of the measures implemented in 2022 include 10 km of new bicycle lanes installed, 500 metres of one of the city’s busiest streets refurbished with dedicated space given to cyclists and pedestrians, much of the painted cycling lanes renewed, and the first cycling street was marked out in the city. The positive local impact of Velo-city is clear, spurring greater investment and support for cycling. 

Check out our Velo-city coverage of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday.

Velo-city 2022 Ljubljana (Source: ecf.com)

At the gala dinner party of Velo-city at Ljubljana Castle, we announced the winners of the inaugural edition of the ECF Awards. Sponsored by Arup, Eco-Counter, Geveko Markings and JobRad, this first edition of the ECF Awards proved to be a major success – celebrating great achievements made in cycling promotion!

2022 winners were:

• Cycle-Friendly Employer Award: R+V Versicherung AG
• Cycling Improvement Award: City of Paris
• Cycling Infrastructure Award: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council
• Road Safety Award: Brussels Capital Region

The awards will return to Velo-city 2023!

ECF Awards 2022 winners (Source: ECF)

Next year, Velo-city takes place in the German city of Leipzig from 9-12 May 2023. Tickets for the event can already be purchased with the super early bird discount, but be quick, the rate closes at the end of this year.

Board changes and a new president for the World Cycling Alliance

2022 saw a few changes in the ECF board.

Angela Francke, professor for cycling and sustainable mobility at the University of Kassel, Germany, was elected to the ECF board in the spring. Teaching transport economics with an interdisciplinary focus, Angela brings an expertise in data and evidence in her contribution to ECF’s advocacy work and campaigns.

Meanwhile, we bade farewell to board member Lars Strömgren, who reached the end of his second term on the ECF board. He now serves as Stockholm’s Vice Mayor for Transport & Urban Environment.

Our board member Sir Graham Watson was appointed President of the World Cycling Alliance, taking over from Henk Swarttouw who stepped down to concentrate on his role as ECF President.

As we look to 2023, we are ready to continue advocating for more cycling, more often, across Europe and beyond! We would like to thank all of our members, networks and wider stakeholders for their support, cooperation and encouragement during 2022.

ECF AGM 2022 in Berlin, Germany (Source: ECF)