EU Committee of the Regions presents European Declaration on Cycling

Brussels – European local authorities aim to improve bicycle mobility. The European Committee of the Regions, during its plenary session, presented a European Declaration on Cycling in which it called for more investment in safety and infrastructure. More bike lanes, separating bike routes from vehicular traffic, and cities with strict speed limits are some of the measures proposed by Arianna Censi, Councillor for Mobility of the Municipality of Milan, in her presentation of the Declaration.

The role of cities is crucial to achieving European decarbonization goals in the transportation sector. Approximately 75 percent of the European population lives in urban areas, and by encouraging the use of non-polluting means, such as bicycles, it is possible to reach the target. In addition to this, cycling promotes a healthy lifestyle and reduces traffic congestion in cities.

The main critical issue in encouraging bicycle use remains the question of safety. Too many accidents across Europe have involved bicycles, which, along with pedestrians, are the most fragile users on the road. To address this problem, the Conference of Regions calls for adequate infrastructure for cyclists, including bike lanes completely separated from motor vehicle lanes, safe speed limits in urban areas, and strict enforcement of traffic laws. Local authorities are asking the EU to fund these projects from Horizon Europe, a €95.5 billion program for innovation and combating climate change.

In addition, local authorities are calling for a review of cycling frameworks at the national and European levels to establish minimum European standards indicative of the design and quality of cycling infrastructure. For Arianna Censi, “to change the design of our cities of the future facilitating their connections, changing the relationships between urban centers and semi-urban and rural areas” requires a change in perspective on bicycles. Finally, the Committee of the Regions called to establish a European car-free day and greater visibility of World Bike Day on June 3.