Velo-city 2009 in Brussels from 12 - 15 May has been a tremendous success. The 15th of the Velo-city series was attended by more than 850 participants from 52 countries and saw the first veritable Expo Velo-city. High-level speakers from the European Commission and Parliament, the United Nations, World Health Organization, the Intergovernmental Platform on Climate Change and many others made the case for cycling. A considerable number of speeches and presentations can now be downloaded from the official website: www.velo-city2009.com

Press clippings of the conference can be downloaded here (26 MB):  Velo-city media monitoring.pdf

Pictures of the conference can be downloaded here : http://www.velo-city2009.com/photo-library-presse.html

On 1st day 12 May Velo-city conference was opened by European Commission Vice-president Antonio Tajani. In his opening speech he said: "The bicycle must be a central part of a European urban transport policy". See more on: http://www.ecf.com/3539_1

Then the conference attendees joined local cyclists to participate to a bicycle ride throughout Brussels. See more on: http://www.velo-city2009.com/vc09-photos-0512.html  

On day 2 the conference focused on the benefits of cycling. As explained Mrs Franesca Racioppi from the World Health Organization "Cycling has strong positive impacts in the field of environment, transport and health. It creates therefore a clear ‘Win-Win-Win' situation". See more on: http://www.ecf.com/3540_1

On day 3  the participants reflected on marketing and communication strategies related to cycling. One of the strategies underlined by the speakers was to deliver a message that cycling is "chic" rather than focusing on environmental or health reasons. See more on: http://www.ecf.com/3542_1

ECF's main aim of the conference was to bring cycling onto the European agenda. At the final day of Velo-city in the hemicycle of the European Parliament, the main outcomes were:

Charter of Brussels:
This charter was signed by 27 cities, calling upon the European institutions "to set a target of at least 15% for the share of cycling in the modal split of trips in Europe by 2020". The current cycling modal share is around 5%. Signing cities commit themselves to also achieve at least 15 % cycling modal share and to half fatal bicycle accidents by 2020.
The Charter of Brussels can still be signed and will be an important lobbying tool for ECF for the years to come. The Charter can be downloaded from here: http://www.velo-city2009.com/charter-brussels.html

From left to right Mr Graziano Delrio Major of Reggio Emilia, Mr Janos Toth EESC,Ms Munich, Mr Klaus Bonman Major of Copenhagen, MrClément Rossignol City of Bègles, Mr Sim Kallas Vice President of the European Commision, Mr Fons Jacob Major of Helmond, Mr Pascal Smet Minister of Mobility for the Brussels Capital Region, Mr Manfred Neun ECF President, Mr Marshall Poulton Major of Edinburg, Mr Margus Hanson deputy Major of Tartu, Mr Willy Wagemans Major of Houten, Mr Alfredo Sanchez Monteserin Major of Sevilla.

European Bicycle Officer: One of ECF's key demands in the forthcoming Action Plan on Urban Mobility will be fulfilled. A Cabinet staff member of EU-Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani announced that the European Bicycle Officer will be part of the Action Plan.

Inter-parliamentary group "Cycling" in the European Parliament
Two Members of the European Parliament, Michael Cramer / The Greens, and Saïd El Khadraoui / Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats, supported the demand of ECF to install an inter-parliamentary group on cycling in the forthcoming European Parliament.

On 8 July, ECF has organized with the help of Mr Cramer and El Khadraoui, a breakfast meeting for newly elected or reelected MEPs in order to create such an intergroup. 14 MEPs expressed their commitment to this creation. See more http://www.ecf.com/3621_1  

European Cycling Lexicon
Special attention also drew the "European Cycling Lexicon", published by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The Lexicon contains key terms of cycling, cycling infrastructure and different types of cycles for different transport needs in all 23 official languages of the EU. The lexicon can be downloaded here; an updated version will be available in autumn.

Looking forward

The next Velo-city conference will take place in Copenhagen. The Mayor of Copenhagen Mr Klaus Bondam has received the symbol of Velo-city 2009  from ECF President Manfred Neun.

 See more on www.velo-city2010.com