BRUXELLES, 23/06/2016 - People cycling are early risers. Chaired by MEP Michael Cramer and MEP Istvan Ujhelyi, 40 people with diverse backgrounds gathered yesterday to present and discuss the potential for an EU Cycling Strategy and ways to make it happen.

The local and regional dimension of cycling was introduced by Marketa Pape from the European Parliament Research Service who did a report on “Moving cycling forward: a coordinated approach to cycling for local and regional authorities in the EU”, followed by Kevin Peel, representing the City of Manchester in the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and there rapporteur of the current CoR’s own-initiative report on an “EU Roadmap for Cycling”.

The national level was touched upon by Erik Tetteroo from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment who reported back on a workshop done by the Dutch EU Presidency last week in Delft on national and EU cycling focal points. Tetteroo said there is no single modal of a national cycling focal point that could apply to all Member States, but political commitment, an appropriate budget as well as a bottom-up approach, i.e. widespread support from stakeholders, was key in making national cycling policies a success.

The fourth speaker, Piotr Rapacz, Cycling Contact Person at the Commission’s DG MOVE, outlined the way forward in terms of developing content and widespread stakeholder support over the next 12 months. The Velo-city conference in June 2017 in Arnhem-Nijmegen and the CIVITAS  conference in September 2017 will be prime locations to present and discuss those results, Rapacz said.

In the final session that was chaired by ECF’s Policy Director Adam Bodor, participants contributed with concrete ideas that should make it into the Cycling Strategy. Those included a level-playing field for cycling with other modes of transport, for example as regards fiscal policies, EU funding for transport infrastructure and quality standards for building infrastructure, road safety with a strong focus on vehicle regulation, public procurement, intermodality, e.g. the carriage of bicycles on trains to unlock the immense potential for cycle tourism and education, among others.

Participants also raised orgware issues, such as to provide capacity-building for local and regional authorities who will need to implement many measures to be raised by the EU Cycling Strategy. There was a general feeling that this strategy would provide a prime opportunity to build alliances with sectors as far-ranging as the automotive industry, because at the end of the day many people will benefit from an increase of the use of the bicycle as a mode of transportation, including people who are driving a car because of reduced congestion.

Is an EU Cycling Strategy big enough a topic to find its way into the European Commission Work Programme? The participants who joined this meeting this morning voiced their strong support, but 12 months ahead of us to further develop content, stakeholder support and the right narrative to convince the entire Commission.

The pictures of the ECF's breakfast meeting can be found here on Flickr while the list of participants and speaker at the event can be found here.