ECF President Henk Swarttouw opened this year’s meeting with an overview of the state of cycling advocacy at the European level and outlined ECF’s decisive role in current developments towards an EU Cycling Declaration. He praised the achievements of ECF and its members during the last year and invited all members to join ECF’s two major events this year: Velo-city 2023 Leipzig and the EuroVelo and Cycle Tourism Conference Izmir 2023.

ECF was very grateful to host Mr. Georges Gilkinet, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Mobility on the second day of the ECF AGM 2023 for a Keynote Speech. “Cycling is one of the easiest ways to happiness […] Cycling is fast, cycling is green, cycling is healthy, cycling is life” said Mr. Gilkinet. As a leading proponent of the European Bicycle Declaration - a call for the European Commission to develop a cycling policy for the EU – Mr. Gilkinet informed participants that Croatia has now become the 15^th signatory to the declaration. Taking the opportunity to talk to Europe’s cycling advocates, Mr. Gilkinet encouraged all ECF members to lobby their Transport Ministers to sign the declaration, and to join in the campaign to designate 2024 as the European Year of Cycling.

ECF in 2023 and beyond

ECF CEO Jill Warren presented on last year’s successes and developments as well as the organisation’s plans for the year ahead. Special emphasis was placed on ECF’s core policy and legislative work and on our members and networks – such as Cities & Regions for Cyclists - which ECF will continue to leverage to reach our collective advocacy goals. Velo-city and EuroVelo continue to grow and serve as essential platforms for cross-cutting activities.

This year ECF welcomed two new organisations as Associate Members; L’Heureux Cyclage (FR) and Let’s bike it! (RU). L’Heureux Cyclage is a network of bicycle workshops in France which focus on the active promotion of the bicycle as a means of transport, the reuse and upgrading of bicycles and the transfer of mechanical knowledge. Let’s bike it! is a cycling advocacy project in Russia with a mission to popularise cycling as a mode of transport and support the development of a safe, accessible and healthy urban environment. 

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet addressing the ECF AGM 2023.

Membership development, the EU Cycling Strategy and central government investments in cycling were the topics of this year’s panel discussions and workshops. ECF CEO Jill Warren moderated a panel discussion on the experiences of different members, namely the Danish Cyclists Federation, Fietsersbond Netherlands, the German National Cyclists’ Association and the Croatian Cyclists Union. The discussion focused on the retention and recruitment of members and different governance models for cycling associations across Europe. ECF Policy and Development Director Philip Amaral gave a workshop on the next steps towards an EU Cycling Strategy, given the latest developments at the European level as a result of many years of ECF lobbying. ECF Advocacy and EU Affairs Director Fabian Kuester, along with members from France, Austria and Belgium, led the final workshop on investments for cycling and the diversity of approaches across governance levels and competence areas.  

The ECF AGM 2023 concluded with a walking tour of Brussels’ cycling infrastructure developments and waffles!

AGM 2024 Zagreb

ECF is very pleased to announce that next year’s AGM will take place in Zagreb, Croatia and will be co-hosted by Sindikat Biciklista – Croatian Cycling Union!