The Greening Corporate Fleets initiative, currently scheduled to be presented as part of the Automotive Package, presents a timely opportunity to accelerate the transition towards a competitive and decarbonised Europe. The reduction of emissions from road transport is one of the pressing challenges towards decarbonisation, and stimulating demand for emissionsfree vehicles is essential to achieve this.
However, we are strongly concerned that the proposed scope will not correspond to the mobility needs of businesses and to the economic challenges they face. European companies need to have access to the full range of decarbonised mobility solutions, including (e-)bikes. Ensuring that companies have options at their disposal to decarbonise is essential to the success of the initiative.
We, the organisations represented above, believe that companies in Europe need access to sustainable and affordable mobility options to get from A to B, coupled with flexibility, freedom of choice and adapted solutions to achieve decarbonisation objectives. In our view, the proposed scope of the Greening Corporate Fleets initiative does not reflect the current needs of companies and their employees. Where the conditions are right, cycling is taken up as a cost-effective decarbonisation solution by employees and companies alike. In Germany alone, there were 2.1 million leased company bicycles on the road by the end of 2024. For this reason, we ask that (e-)bicycles are recognised as a valid option for corporate mobility decarbonisation within the framework of the future Greening Corporate Fleets legislation.
A successful transition towards decarbonised mobility calls for consistent legislation that aligns with how mobility is evolving – which has been reflected in the recognition of cycling as a fully-fledged mode of transport in recently-adopted EU transport legislation and policies, such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, the TEN-T Regulation and the EU Declaration on Cycling, or the transport measures under the Social Climate Fund. The inclusion of (e-)bicycles in the Greening Corporate Fleets legislation would complement Social Climate Fund measures in particular, since the provision of company bicycles could benefit millions of Europeans with middle incomes who are affected by the introduction of ETS II without falling under the definition of transport poverty.
Over the past decade, the growth of adapted infrastructure across Europe has enabled companies to use bicycles as a decarbonised solution for a variety of corporate mobility needs, including short staff commutes, last-mile deliveries, on-campus travel at large sites, and maintenance operations requiring frequent short stops.
Bicycle commuting in particular provides companies and European citizens with many benefits that also align with broader EU policy objectives, from improved public health and worker productivity to reduced strain on energy grids. Companies are increasingly providing a ‘company bike’ and can offer this to staff at all levels, contrasting with BEVs, which are typically only made available to top-tier employees.
Statistics show that bicycle adoption complements, and clearly does not undermine, the broader uptake of electric vehicles. The most recent data from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory indicates that the ‘cycling’ countries, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark, are frontrunners in BEV uptake, as well as e-bike uptake.
While we understand the need to support the European automotive industry in these challenging times, it is worth noting that other sectors, such as cycling, are providing new jobs in Europe across the mobility ecosystem as well. Further development of bicycle commuting, last-mile logistics and several other cycling-related services can create an additional 1 million jobs in Europe. In addition, the relative strength of the European bicycle market is stimulating European manufacturing jobs, which have increased by 25% since 2018 to reach almost 70.000 in 2024. An enabling framework for cycling in corporate mobility will have a significant effect on future job growth in bicycle and component manufacturing.
Our request is simple: to include a ‘bicycle option’ in the Greening Corporate Fleets legislation, allowing companies and/or Member States to include a proportion of bicycles (including cargo-bikes) in their corporate fleet decarbonisation efforts. This would help alleviate financial barriers faced by companies modernising their fleets, ensure consistency with broader EU transport policies and facilitate the transition towards a competitive, decarbonised European economy.
