Geopolitical volatility has demonstrated, twice in the last five years, how dangerously dependent Europe is on fossil fuel imports, leading to another looming energy crisis. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, EU consumers and industries have carried the hefty weight of uncertainty over supply and increased fuel costs. The US-Iran war has, in the last month, aggravated such feelings of unease. Initiatives like the European Commission’s AccelerateEU are a logical response to this long-standing cycle of vulnerability. They signal a clear intent to move beyond reactive crisis management and towards a proactive structural overhaul for the EU, which can no longer afford to be held hostage by volatile global markets.
As the document indicates, the EU imported (in 2025 alone) nearly 340 billion EUR worth of energy products. In other words, the EU imported, last year, around 747€ worth of fuel products for each of its inhabitants. Furthermore, in the first 52 days of the US-Iran war, the EU has spent an additional 24 billion EUR on energy imports: or a staggering 462 million EUR per day. This financial burden falls directly on the shoulders of European households and businesses, who currently face average (per litre) petrol prices of 1.85€ and around 2.10€ for diesel. Fuel expenses not only reduce the disposable income of households, but they also threaten the competitiveness of the EU’s industrial base.
Fuel imports remain a necessity for our region, in part because the car is the most common form of transport in the EU (with 82% of passenger transport being done by car (1)), and because the great majority of cars in the EU are still powered by fossil fuels (2). Despite the staggering costs and geopolitical risks associated with this car-centric model, there remain surprisingly few structural incentives for citizens to fundamentally change their means of transport. While the transition to electric vehicles is a necessary step, Europe is still doubling down on the automobile as the primary form of mobility – merely replacing one resource-intensive machine with another.
As the cycling industry, we believe it is time to recognise that there are much more effective and sustainable alternatives to the automobile – especially if we consider that the average distance travelled per day is 27km (3). The bicycle is more than just a leisure tool: it is an efficient multi-benefit machine with a much lower price tag than a car[1]. Recent estimates suggest that the cost of owning and operating a medium-sized sedan is six times higher than that of an e-bike (4). Beyond the immediate fuel savings it offers, a widespread use of the bicycle enables a range of obvious public benefits: cleaner air, healthier populations, a drastic reduction in urban congestion (among others). We praise the Commission for the intent shown in “AccelerateEU”, which finally begins to acknowledge these benefits; but we must emphasise that even more decisive action is necessary to turn this vision into truly sustainable transport systems, and to live up to the commitments laid out in the European Declaration on Cycling.
In particular, we value the Commission’s recognition that technical transitions must be accompanied by measures that incentivise Europeans’ behavioural change in mobility. Annex I lists an array of good practices already in place all over Europe, some of which are centred around bicycles – like ‘investments into cycling infrastructure’. Furthermore, Annex II puts forward a series of measures that can provide immediate relief to the transport sector’s high energy spending. One of them, the ‘promotion of alternatives to car transport in urban and peri-urban areas’, is very well aligned with the solutions that the cycling sector has recurrently argued for. Under the scope of this broader measure, the Commission suggested a set of tools to be implemented by Member states in order to reduce their use of (and dependency on) imported fuel.
AccelerateEU recommends the introduction of subsidies and fiscal incentives for the purchase of bicycles. This aligns closely with ECI’s ongoing efforts to ensure that the European Commission’s work on “Corporate Fleets” extends beyond automobiles to embrace the full spectrum of decarbonised mobility solutions. In particular, (e-)bikes represent a powerful accelerator for clean corporate mobility. In this context, company bike leasing through salary conversion stands out as an effective tool for both energy independence and economic relief. Bicycles are not only more affordable than electric cars, but also significantly more energy efficient. By lowering the financial barrier to high-quality (e-)bikes, company bike leasing schemes offer both employers and employees a cost-effective, accessible, and sustainable alternative to the unnecessary costs associated with refuelling. Where the conditions are right, cycling is taken up as a cost-effective corporate mobility solution by employees and companies alike. In Germany alone, more than 2.1 million company bicycles were leased in 2024, driven by a favourable tax regime.
Two other proposed tools to address the high fuel spending of European urban centres are the introduction of support schemes for bike sharing and the incentivising of last-mile delivery by cargo bikes. Both measures are already the object of the work of ECI Expert Groups, who have been consistently working to explore and communicate the benefits of the former for urban dwellers, cities and the wider European industrial base.
Philippe Van de Casteele, Chair of the Cargo Bikes &Cycle Logistics Expert Group, reflected on the strategic importance of the inclusion of cargo bicycles in AccelerateEU: “We highly welcome the Commission’s recognition of cargo bikes as an alternative to traditional car-centric urban logistics. Replacing heavy delivery vans with human-powered solutions is a low-hanging fruit for any Member State looking to slash its oil imports immediately and effectively. By incentivising this shift, the AccelerateEU plan validates ECI’s efforts to demonstrate that professional cycle logistics is not just a green choice, but a way to safeguard the European economy against the rising costs and uncertainty of conventional fuels”.
Kristian Brink, Chair of the Bike Sharing Expert Group, also considers the proposed ‘tools’ to be a significant step toward acknowledging the fuel-saving benefits of cycles: “Bike share has for a long time been at the forefront of the modal shift in European cities, causing a direct reduction of fossil fuel dependency and improving the energy consumption efficiency. The proposals in AccelerateEU, which include a direct request to make bike share and micromobility accessible to all, are a testament to the hard work put in by the industry over the last decade. At European Cycling Industries, and in particular at the Bike Share Expert Group, we celebrate these proposals and hope to see them turned into financial incentives for private companies to continue supporting this public service”.
We cannot afford to let this momentum dissipate in the corridors of Brussels; we must ensure that every Member State recognises that energy security and the bicycle industry are inextricably linked. The publishing of AccelerateEU has handed the cycling industry a powerful mandate, but these guidelines will only carry weight if they are translated into national policy. The moment is ripe for the cycling industry to pool its resources and push national governments to begin implementing the proposed tools.
[1] According to the 2025 BIMP Report, the average price of a bicycle in EU27 countries is 468 EUR.
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