The European Commission has launched an industrial policy initiative that could accelerate the growth of bicycle and component manufacturing in Europe and stimulate further development of cycling-related services. It represents major advocacy progress for Cycling Industries Europe which, since its inception in 2018, has been requesting active EU-level support to develop the cycling industry.
Under the flagship Industrial Transition Pathway policy, cycling stakeholders have been regularly meeting with the European Commission to explain the challenges and opportunities faced by cycling companies today and spell out required policy support measures accordingly.
This regular and structured dialogue with the European Commission began following the inclusion of the cycling sector to Transition Pathway for the Mobility industry, which had initially been developed with the automotive, waterborne and rail sectors in mind. CIE’s EU-level demands to treat the cycling industry as a genuine industrial stakeholder were heard at long last and backed by the European Parliament in its groundbreaking Resolution for an EU Cycling Strategy last February.
The ambition to help industries become greener, more resilient and digital is at the heart of the transition pathway approach and neatly ties into key priorities and goals for the cycling industry. Support measures to achieve these goals have already been developed for other industrial sectors such as chemicals, textiles and tourism. These previous initiatives show that the European Commission is keen to support industries it views as strategic to achieve broader economic and environmental policy goals and is prepared to consider ambitious support measures – as long as they are echoed by commitments from the industry leaders that align with sustainability and digitalisation goals.
Cycling Industries Europe has underlined the economic opportunities offered by the sustained uptake of ridership across Europe and urged the Commission to step up support measures to reap the benefits. Policy support requests aim to sustain the uptake of cycling and accelerate market demand, pre-empt potential future production bottlenecks, provide financial and practical support to produce more ‘Made in Europe’ bicycles and treat the cycling industry on an equal footing with other mobility industries which have historically benefitted from EU-level policy support.
The so-called Transition Pathway for the cycling industry could also include measures to support sustainability initiatives, such as setting up set up digital product passports to enhance product traceability and reporting, or collection points for component and battery recycling.
Last but not least, the regular dialogue has given CIE and sister organisation CONEBI a platform to remind the Commission about the importance of maintaining a stable and predictable regulatory framework for international trade and placing new products on the market.
CIE is in regular dialogue with its Members to make sure that the industry’s concerns and ambitions are heard loud and clear by the European Commission. Do feel free to get in touch with us to find out more about how CIE Membership can help your company shape the EU policy agenda.
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