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The European Parliament has voted in favour of a report that labels cycling as crucial to the future of transport policy.
The report – titled ‘A sustainable future for transport’ – got the unanimous backing of the Transport and Tourism committee of the European Parliament on June 1st, recognised the role of cycling as a crucial mode of transport for urban areas and calls for increased funding for cycle-backing transport policies.
ETRA, the European Two-Wheel Retailers’ Association, has welcomed the report, which took on the Association’s recommendations over infrastructure.
The association said: “The key to increasing cycle use is the improvement of cycling infrastructure, and ETRA successfully lobbied for the adoption of an amendment which foresees a 20 per cent increase by 2020 of funding for cycle-friendly transport concepts."
The report will be put to a further vote in the plenary session of July 2010 and potentially will impact on a Commission White Paper affecting long-term transport policy over 2011-2020. The White Paper is expected for the end of 2010.
ETRA added: “ETRA strongly hopes that the Commission will take the opinion of the Parliament into account when drafting the document and includes provisions which rightly reflect the contribution of cycling to the EU’s aims in the fields of environment, health and competitiveness.”
