25 Feb 2022

Last week, the French Deputy, Guillaume Gouffier-Cha, proposed ten measures to help the development of the cycling sector as part of France's new cycling strategy, “Filière Économique du Vélo."

According to the MP, the 2018 French bicycle plan needs to be revised. Alongside environmental and public health benefits, cycling creates and represents financial opportunities for both individuals and business in France.

The data in the report shows the cycling sector growing at an unprecedented pace – between 2019 and 2021 alone, cycling experienced an increase of 31% in urban areas and 14% in rural areas.

With rising sales, this trend is not only apparent in conventional bikes. E-bikes are also becoming increasingly relevant on the scene. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of e-bikes sold increased from 400,000 to 700,000 units and it’s forecasted that more than 1 million per year will be sold by 2025. A similar trend applies to cargo bikes – the report estimates that France will experience up to 300,000 cargo bikes sales per year by 2027, going from 11,000 to 60,000 per year.

The report highlights bicycles as a real economic opportunity for French manufacturers and businesses, which is why the French MP encourages France to explore the prospects for economic and industrial actors through the development of cycling. According to the estimates, the entire sector could potentially create upwards of 100,000 jobs by 2050.

Ten key measures outlined in the report:

  1. Recognition of bikes as a full mode of transportation

  2. Create a French bike label which integrates social, environmental and economic criteria

  3. Actively modernize industrial tools and machineries

  4. Create a bike industry committee with industrial and economic actors in the bike industry

  5. Launch states general of economic actors in the bike industry in the coming months

  6. Develop tools to strengthen intra-industry and inter-industry work

  7. Structure a second-hand market

  8. Make VAT deductible for the purchase of bikes for professionals

  9. Create new diploma courses for all cycle jobs

  10. Update the bike plan by bringing the active mobility fund to 400 million euros per year

Read the full report (in French) here

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