France to have a new cycling plan

In December 2017, the French Minister of Transportation announced a new ambitious cycling plan to be implemented in France in cooperation with several other Ministries. This was due to dedicated work on the Parlons vélo Campaign by ECR's French member FUB (Fédération Française des Usagers de la Bicyclette). 

Back in September 2017, the French government launched a National Mobility Forum (les Assises Nationales de la Mobilité) which lasted three months. It gave main stakeholders (industry, civil society, institutions, NGOs) the chance to discuss opinions on the future of mobility in France. Additional citizens also engaged in discussions through participation in public meetings and an interactive internet platform.

It was during the National Mobility Forum which FUB safeguarded its propositions:

• Creating a national fund for cycling to finance projects in pilot-cities to resolve urban cut-offs 
• Bike education in schools becoming mandatory
• Tax incentives (cycling allowance and incentives for buying pedelecs)

In the closing speech of the Mobility Forum, Elisabeth Borne, French Minister of Transportation, announced a new ambitious cycling plan to be implemented in cooperation with several other Ministries. She stressed that ‘cycling was the most discussed topic during public meetings and in order to respond to the desired cleaner and more sustainable mobility, we need an effective policy in favour of cycling’.

FUB has been a beneficiary of the ECF’s Leadership Programme when the preparation for the successful campaign was developed. The Leadership Programme is fully funded by the ECF Cycling Industry Club members via their yearly donation, allowing national cyclists’ associations to get funds, support and training to bring their national campaigning and advancement to a professional level.

This story was published by ECR to acknowledge the success of their French member FUB (https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/unexpected-christmas-present-fub-e…)