Cycling business leaders welcome announcement by EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans at Copenhagen Cycling Summit
Global business leaders attending an international conference in Copenhagen gave an enthusiastic welcome to the announcement of a new EU Cycling Declaration by Commission Executive Vice President and EU Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans at a special conference in Copenhagen preceding the Grand Départ of the 2022 Tour de France in the city.
CIE President Tony Grimaldi said: “Here in Copenhagen business leaders have told EVP Timmermans that our companies are ready to be a full and active partner with the European institutions, governments and cities to grow cycling everywhere in Europe. That he says the EU’s industrial capacity should be geared towards bikes is a mark of the impact we are making as an industry. I congratulate the CIE team in Brussels for the work they have done to get this message across to the EU institutions.”
15 senior executives attending the Copenhagen Bicycle Summit as part of a Cycling Industries Europe delegation heard EVP Timmermans acknowledge that the EU has a role to play in formulating cycling policy, saying that “we must support more and new measures to grow cycling in Europe.” He announced that the EU Commission and EU Parliament will cooperate on the creation of an EU Cycling Declaration which is expected to bring all relevant policies together in one place. He also said that “everything should, where possible have a cycling dimension”, referring to EU environment, industrial and mobility policies.
He underlined that while the cycling revolution needs to happen in cities and towns the EU will fully support them. “Solid plans will get priority access to funding” and “You cannot do it without cycling, and cycling will make it easier.” For the industry he made a strong reference to growing the number of bikes made in the EU, the need to reskill workers from other sectors to support bicycle production and that e-bikes should benefit from the EU’s battery strategy. The full text of EVP Timmermans speech can be found here.
CIE and partners European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) were pleased with recognition by the Commission of their strong case for more cycling as essential to achieving the EU’s bold climate, economic, industrial and social policy objectives, and more recently as a way to accelerate progress on the RePower EU plan to save energy and reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuel imports.
Both organisations have advocated that a unified EU cycling policy would place cycling on the same level as other modes of transport and industrial sectors in the EU, releasing more coherent policy support, consistency across EU member states and potentially billions more Euros for cycling investments.
Speaking at the same event, MEP Karima Delli, Chair of the EU Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism said that a Cycling Declaration will be fast-tracked. “Good news, things are about to change, we need a tremendous increase in cycling infrastructure to decarbonize the transport sector.”
Jill Warren, ECF CEO said: “This is a great day for cycling in Europe. We particularly welcome the joined-up approach outlined by EVP Timmermans that should incorporate a number of our longstanding policy demands. It is expected to encompass all aspects of cycling and recognise it as the fully-fledged mode of transport that it is. An EU Cycling Declaration will help realise cycling’s enormous further potential with more support and funding for high quality, safe and connected infrastructure in all areas from urban to rural.”
Kevin Mayne, CIE CEO said: “This is an important milestone for us – we have called for the recognition of cycling as an industry of strategic importance in the EU since the day we were founded. We are extremely satisfied with the positive recognition given by EVP Timmermans in his speech. We are committed to delivering thousands of high quality green jobs in Europe and we look forward to working with the Commission to place our industrial strategy into the EU Cycling Declaration.”
Today’s embrace of cycling by the European institutions and the strong support shown by the Danish hosts in Copenhagen are a cause for celebration for cycling civil society and industry. CIE and ECF, together with our members, partners and stakeholders, stand ready to help shape and implement the EU Cycling Declaration, and to ensure Europe will continue to lead the way.
International companies attending the Copenhagen Cycling Summit and supporting the CIE industry commitment included Accell, PON, SRAM, Trek, Decathlon, Continental, Cycleurope, Shimano, Specialized and Tour de France.
To learn more about this important development in cycling policy for Europe join the CIE/CONEBI Leaders’ Breakfast at Eurobike on 14th July.
Media contact for Cycling Industries Europe:
Kevin Mayne, CEO of Cycling Industries Europe
k.mayne@cyclingindustries.com
Media contacts for the European Cyclists' Federation:
Michael Brennan, Communications Manager & Media Relations Officer
+32 (0) 483 08 38 81
m.brennan@ecf.com
Top photo credits: Claudia Dons www.claudiadons.dk
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