The conference was yet another milestone in a remarkable run for cycling at the EU level. In 2022, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Minister for Transport, Georges Gilkinet, spearheaded a coalition of Member States on a call for a European cycling strategy, a coalition that grew from six countries to sixteen in one year. MEP Karima Delli, the chairperson of the European Parliament’s transportation committee, led the unanimous adoption of a parliamentary resolution on cycling, which also requested the Commission to develop a European strategy for cycling. All this, supported by extensive advocacy and input led by ECF and CIE helped shape the Commission’s proposal for a European Cycling Declaration in October last year.

Cycling a political priority in Europe

The High-Level EU Cycling Conference in Hasselt was hosted by the Flemish Regional Government and the Belgian Presidency of the EU. Lydia Peeters, the Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works, officially welcomed participants. She used the occasion to publicise Flanders’ dense and well-used cycling network, built and maintained with substantial financial investments sustained over many years. According to ECF’s own recent analysis, the Belgian region of Flanders invests €48 per capita in cycling and active mobility, the third highest in Europe.

In his opening speech, Herald Ruijters, the Deputy Director-General of DG MOVE at the European Commission, described the European Cycling Declaration as building a “solid base for cycling to come to full fruition” in Europe. He emphasised that the upcoming adoption of the declaration, foreseen to occur in early April, comes at a good time as it will also be when a revised Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation will have been adopted. That regulation will require 431 major EU cities to develop sustainable urban mobility plans that must aim to grow cycling and active travel.

ECF’s CEO Jill Warren spoke on the day’s first panel with MEP Delli and Minister and Minister Gilkinet. Jill told the audience that the cycling declaration is an opportunity for the EU and Member States to “put their money where their mouths are” when it comes to properly investing in cycling. New financial investment strategies will be needed to implement cycling infrastructure, as well as new policy strategies to get more people cycling in EU countries, to achieve progress after the declaration is adopted.

Minister Gilkinet recalled that even as recently as a few years ago, any talk about making cycling an EU-level strategic priority would be met with laughter. “Not anymore,” he told the audience. MEP Delli hailed the declaration as “historic” with its ambition to make cycling a “true mode of transport.” She and Minister Gilkinet made a resounding call for the European Commission to declare 2025 as the European Year of Cycling.

Jack Chambers, Ireland’s State Secretary for Transport, underlined that the declaration should trigger a “huge amount of investment” in cycling throughout Europe. In Ireland, cycling benefits from a yearly investment of €360 million. He recommended that the Commission should develop a specific fund to complement domestic investments in infrastructure, particularly to help ensure that all parts of society can benefit of cycling.

Speaking on a panel focused on industry and economy, CEO Kevin Mayne from our industry partner CIE outlined the economic opportunities of cycling in manufacturing and services. "This is potentially 1 million more jobs," he said. Industry topics he highlighted in his talk included growing cycling industry clusters and jobs, building a circular value chain in EU markets, developing capacity and support structures, building a sustainable value chain for e-bike batteries, and improving industrial data collection.

The need for better data on cycling is a priority topic for industry and civil society advocates alike. Speaking on a panel about cycling data, ECF’s Director of Policy and Development, Philip Amaral, told participants that the EU needs to choose a consistent methodology to acquire reliable data on cycling to support good decision making. “One reason why cycling advocates insist on data collection is that it shows how much political priority governments give to cycling,” said Philip.

Next steps for the cycling declaration

By all accounts, everything is on track for the European Cycling Declaration, the EU’s biggest ever political commitment to cycling, to be jointly adopted by the Commission, Parliament and Council in early April. Until then, all three institutions will meet to ensure they agree on the final content of the declaration and develop a vision for how it could be implemented afterward.

Implementing the cycling declaration will be a central message that ECF communicates to candidates for the European parliamentary elections that will take place in June. ECF will also work with members of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Urban Mobility, particularly the sub-group on active mobility that it co-coordinates, on creating recommendations to the Commission on how the declaration’s commitments can be transformed into new policy and legislation.