| Artxibo OCR | ECF EuroVelo
Newsletter 7
oh
EuroVeLo
the European cycle route network
EUROPEAN CYCLISTS' FEDERATION
Wishing you all a happy New Year!
A Successful Year for EuroVelo Closed With 3
Workshops in Brussels
Three workshops were held in Brussels In December to look back at the suc-
cesses of the past year and to consider how this ambitious project should
developed further In the years to come.
To mark the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Mrs
Katarzyna Soblerajska, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Sport and Tour-
ism of the Republic of Poland, and the ECF hosted two workshops In the
Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the EU on Wednes-
day 7th December.
EuroVelo Central Coordination Workshop
The first workshop considered the central coordination of EuroVelo and
there were presentations from Mrs Soblerajska, Mr Pedro Ortún, Director of
DG ENTR, and Wolfgang Münch, Policy Officer from DG REGIO.
Mrs Soblerajska described the EuroVelo network as “an excellent Instrument
for promoting cycling as an economically, environmentally and socially sus-
tainable means of transport, and provides excellent Infrastructure for active
pro-environmental recreation." She also called for steps to be taken to Im-
plement the European Parliament’s resolution of 22 April 2009 asking the
European Commission and Member States to consider Including EuroVelo
routes Into the TEN-T network.
The ECF’s EuroVelo Manager, Adam Bodor, used the workshop to present
the latest calculations for how much It Is likely to cost to complete the
EuroVelo network by 2020. Taking Into account coordination, promotion
and route development he estimated that It will cost between 1,5 - 2 billion
Euros. This has to be offset against the economic Impact of a complete
EuroVelo network, which a study commissioned by the European Parliament
In 2009, estimated would be 5 billion Euros every year once It Is complete.
EuroVelo 13 - Iron Curtain Trail Workshop
The second workshop focused on EuroVelo 13 - the Iron Curtain Trail and
there were contributions from Andrzej B. Plotrowlcz, Chief Executive of the
PSWE (PO) and Daniel Mourek, International Greenways Coordinator for
Nadace Partnerskvl (CZ), who Introduced the route and the projects that had
been undertaken this year. The afternoon ended with a rousing speech from
Michael Cramer MEP and the father of the Iron Curtain Trail, who encour-
aged everyone to build on the successes of the past year and ensure that
the route realises Its potential.
This project is co-financed by the European Union
under the preparatory action "Sustainable Tourism”.
The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author.
The European Commission is not responsible for any use
that may be made of the information contained therein.
Page 1
ECF EuroVelo
Newsletter 7
EuroVelo
the European cycle route network
EUROPEAN CYCLISTS' FEDERATION
EuroVelo 3 - Pilqrims Route Workshop
On Thursday 8th December, a third workshop was held in the Danish
Embassy, where the keynote speech was given by Klaus Bondam, Di-
rector at the Danish Cultural Institute/Benelux and the former Mayor
of Copenhagen (widely known as the ‘Cycling Mayor’). Mr Bondam
encouraged those working on the routes not just to promote them as
tourism products but also to emphasise their value to local communi-
ties along the routes, as a sustainable transportation network.
The project partners then gave short presentations on the sections of
the route in their country, highlighting the opportunities and threats
that exist, before Adam Bodor chaired a lively discussion on what
needs to be done next to ensure that the route is completed in the
years to come.
The well-attended workshops were a suitable end to what was a busy
year for EuroVelo. Thanks to grants from DG ENTR, several EuroVelo-
related projects enabled the development of an improved EuroVelo
central coordination, as well as the specific route development pro-
jects linked to EuroVelo 3 and 13. The ECF is hoping for more of the
same in 2012!
European Parliament votes to include
EuroVelo in the TEN-TNetwork
The year ended on a high note for the EuroVelo project when the Euro-
pean Parliament voted on 15th December that: “EuroVelo, the Euro-
pean long-distance cycle route network, should be included in the TEN
-T network”. TEN-T is an ELI policy area within DG MOVE designed to
focus money on supporting trans-European transport infrastructure
developments considered to be strategically important by the ELI.
This was the European Parliament’s non-legislative response to the
European Commission White Paper on Transport. The response will
now have to be considered by the Commission and it is very timely as
the Parliament will also be consulted on revised guidelines for the TEN
-T network this year.
Following the vote Bernhard Ensink, ECF Secretary General, com-
mented that “In 1995 we had a vision to develop a European cycle
route network, to be completed by 2020. With the demand of the Par-
liament to integrate EuroVelo into the Trans-European Transport Net-
work (TEN-T), this vision has taken a big step forward in becoming re-
ality.”
ECF EuroVelo
General Newsletter 7
EUROPEAN CYCLISTS' FEDERATION
Responsible editor
Adam Bodor
EuroVelo Manager
[email protected]
European Cyclists' Federation asbl
www.ecf.com
This project is co-financed by the European Union
under the preparatory action "Sustainable Tourism”.
The sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author.
The European Commission is not responsible for any use
that may be made of the information contained therein.
Page 2 | |
