Unlock funds for cycling in your region

With the approval of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) – the seven year budget for 2021-2027 – Member States are in the process of defining their Partnership Agreements and resulting Operational Programmes.

The new MFF provides ample opportunities for cycling development via both the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) and the new Recovery and Resilience Facility which has been set up to counter the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the next ESIFs, 30% of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and 37% of Cohesion Funds must be allocated to low-carbon investments and climate action.

As such, the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) has issued guidance to assist public authorities in drafting programming documents that can support cycling in Europe’s regions.

The ECF estimates that at least six billion EUR of investment will be required in cycling infrastructure by 2027 to trigger significant modal shift and is pushing for regions to take account of this necessity in their planning documents. Country specific guidelines have been developed for all twenty-seven EU member states, taking account of how EU funds must address economic and fiscal challenges in each state, as identified by the European Commission via the European Semester.

Each guide presents an overview of cycling in the MFF, a country specific evaluation, an overview of the funds and their programming documents, and good practices of both programming and implementation. 

Click to access the Country guides, ‘Unlocking cycle investments from EU Structural Funds’  

If you need inspiration on investments, then join us to discover successful approaches taken in other European regions!

The Policy Learning Platform is organising a Cycling Cities webinar series to share insights on how cities and regions can design policies to foster urban cycling. Each webinar will showcase inspiring experiences and good practices from Interreg Europe and provide guidance from real life examples.

You can sign up to a single session, or join all three:

• Cycling Cities I: Strategic planning for cycling – 21 January 2021, 14:00-15:30
• Cycling Cities II: Infrastructure Development – 28 January 2021, 14:00-15:30
• Cycling Cities III: Getting more people to cycle – 4 February 2021, 14:00-15:30

You can also explore the policy briefs on ‘Cycling Cities’ and ‘Promoting Active Modes of Transport’.

If you have any specific questions related to cycling policies you can reach out to Policy Learning Platform experts directly via the policy helpdesk.

Image credit: Photo by Sebastian Voortman from Pexels