Our Ukrainian member, U-Cycle, together with local NGOs, launched the #BikesForUkraine campaign to collect bikes from around the world. The bikes are meant to facilitate access and improve the mobility of Ukrainian volunteers who strive to provide critically important public services and humanitarian aid. The campaign has received widespread popular and institutional support, including the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE). Our Danish member, Danish Cyclists Federation, also initiated a similar solidarity initiative for Ukrainian refugees arriving in the country in collaboration with the Danish Ministry of Transport, called “Give a bicycle/ Giv en cykel”.

Portugal has become the first country to reduce VAT rates (to the lowest possible rate of 6%) for the supply, rental and repair of bicycles, including e-bikes, after an amendment to the state budget, whichtakes effect from 1 January 2023. This is a major advocacy success for ECF’s Portuguese members MUBi and FPCUB, together with the national bicycle industry association ABIMOTA, which have been strongly campaigning for cycle-friendly measures in the state budget and have repeatedly presented this demand in meetings with government officials over the past years.

From March 2022, car advertising in France must encourage cycling and other sustainable means of transport, as well as include the government-authorised climate friendly messaging #SeDéplacerMoinsPolluer (#MovingPollutingLess). French ECF Member Fédération Française des Usagers de la Bicyclette (FUB) welcomed this development as a great starting point for debate, as it has been leading calls for an advertisement ban on polluting vehicles and a tax on advertising to finance walking and cycling campaigns since 2009.

Italy became the latest European country to adopt a National Cycling Strategy, with the persistent effort and hard work of Italian ECF Member FIAB paying off. The published document aims to improve long-term planning and strengthen urban and interurban cycling mobility systems with a focus on cycling tourism. It specifies a series of objectives including the safety of cyclists, signage and shared space between different road users.

ECF welcomed six new member organisations at the Annual General Meeting 2022, which took place in May in Berlin, and was co-hosted by German ECF Member ADFC. This year, Cycling UK (UK), Biciklo.me (Montenegro), Marakli t’Biciklave (Kosovo), and Tüm Bisiklet Dernekleri Federasyonu - TUBIDEF (Turkey) joined ECF as Full members, as well as Polish Union of Active Mobility - PUMA (Poland) and the Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center (Taiwan) as Associate members.

Cities & Regions for Cyclists Network

Our Cities & Regions for Cyclists (CRC) Network welcomed twelve new members this year; expanding the representation of local and regional administrations committed to cycling to well over 50 million citizens. The greater geographical coverage, as well as the diversity in size and stages of cycling development, is a representation of the cycling boom underway on the continent.

Our members were highly ambitious in their cycling developments in this past year. The new “Good Move” circulation plan, promoted by existing ECF Member Brussels Capital Region (Belgium), aims at restricting the movement of cars in several areas of the city centre, to make neighbourhoods more accessible, pleasant and safe. The region’s ambition is to reduce car traffic by 24% by 2030.

Ghent (Belgium), the host city of Velo-city 2024 and one of our new members, has had great success with similar initiatives. In 2017 the city realised a new circulation plan where the traffic circulation was changed on approximately 80 streets, 2,500 road signs were removed or newly placed and most motorised traffic was permanently removed from 14 locations. Currently, Ghent is working on the implementation of neighbourhood mobility plans that will ban most of the through-traffic in the selected neighbourhoods with similar measures.

Rotterdam (Netherlands) has seen a staggering increase of 45% in the number of cyclists between 2010 and 2020, bringing its modal split on par with the national average of 28%. Rotterdam’s ambition is to build a city with great public spaces where walking and cycling is only logical, thus cycling development is used to contribute to ongoing efforts on circularity and a healthy, compact and inclusive city.

Zagreb (Croatia) has increasingly focused on cycling in recent years with infrastructure developments accompanied by awareness-raising programmes for the public. The new administration is currently implementing several new cycle highways, 30 km/h zones and connecting existing lanes into a city network. Deinze (Belgium) has seen impressive cycling developments in recent years, including the realisation of the bicycle highway to Ghent, car-free hours in the city and the establishment of a free bike-sharing system for residents.

Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey) achieved Gold Level Certification as the first Cycle-Friendly Employer (CFE) of the country. Similarly, Rimini (Italy) showed a strong commitment to developing and enhancing cycling infrastructure and policy. Timis (Romania), our first Romanian member, is looking to focus on cycle tourism and develop the EuroVelo 13 section that runs through the country. Along the same route, Varaždin (Croatia) becomes our first Croatian member, with great ambitions for its cycling developments reflected in strategies like Grad su ljudi (“The City is People”) and Živim zeleno (“I Live Green”).

Destination Westport and Westport Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Mayo County Council (Ireland), our first member in Ireland, is also focusing on cycle tourism, through – among other activities – the Cycle-Friendly Clew Bay initiative which builds on ECF’s CFE Certification to encourage cycle tourism and active travel among local businesses.

Three networks of cities and regions also joined CRC this year! Swedish Cycling Cities (Sweden) works to raise awareness and leverage cycling to achieve environmental and health targets, by facilitating exchange and transfer among its own members. CIVINET Greece-Cyprus (Greece/Cyprus) is a national network of CIVITAS, which cooperates with its members offering technical support, for example, on SUMPs and capacity building, and is also pioneering Sustainable Island Mobility Plans (SIMP) for which it is drafting a practical briefing. Club des Villes et Territoires Cyclables et Marchables (France) is a network of communities, cities and metropolitan areas which works with its members to accelerate the development of cycling policy and infrastructure at the national level.

Cycle-Friendly Employer Consortium

ECF’s Cycle-Friendly Employer (CFE) certification is currently being implemented in 16 countries, with well over 400 employers across Europe already certified as cycle-friendly, a number that is growing fast. Members of the CFE Consortium have had a year of landmark certifications, and recognition of the role of cycle-friendly workplaces by decision-makers on regional, national, and European levels.

Fietsersbond (Belgium) has awarded the European Parliament with a Bronze Level Certification. With a wide range of cycling services and a consistent cycling policy, the European Parliament becomes the first European institution to receive the certification, a significant achievement and a testament to its commitment to ensuring more cycling in Europe. Fietsersbond (Netherlands) Fietsersbond has awarded the Dutch Police a Gold Level Certification. With more than 60,000 employees, the Dutch Police force is the largest employer in the Netherlands.

Cycling Solutions (Ireland) has awarded the Irish Department of Transport with a Gold Level Certification, making it the first government department to be certified with several others achieving certification since. The certification follows the Department’s recent launch of the new National Sustainable Mobility Policy, which includes an action to promote the uptake of CFE Certification in workplaces.

Finally, our Polish CFE members City of Gdansk and PUMA (Poland) hosted the 11^th Active Mobility Congress, which has been the traditional occasion for awarding CFE Certifications in Poland. This year, five employers have been recognised as cycle-friendly workplaces for over 1,300 employees.

How to become an ECF Member: https://ecf.com/who-we-are/how-become-ecf-member
How to join Cities & Regions for Cyclists Network: https://ecf.com/community/cities-and-regions-cyclists
How to implement the CFE Certification in your country: https://ecf.com/community/cycle-friendly-employers-consortium