EN 
IT 
The European Cyclist Federation (EFC), the European body responsible for lobbying to promote cycling, has announced that, thanks to a new updated regulation for the Structural Funds, the European Union has requested greater investments from cities and regions towards sustainable mobility.
After more than three years of negotiations, the European Parliament and the Council have agreed on a new regulation for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027.
This new regulation concerns two EU Structural Funds which are traditionally the primary sources of investment in cycle projects: the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (FC).
The innovations put in place are all for the benefit of cycling, as sustainable multimodal urban mobility moves higher up the list of priorities. Since managing authorities (ADMs) must spend at least 30% of their financial budgets to pursue OS 2, this requirement represents a great opportunity to invest money in the world of cycling.
Furthermore, the new regulation provides that at least 8% of ERDF resources at national level under the “Investments for jobs and growth” objective will be allocated to sustainable urban development and will also support “the European Urban Initiative ” to establish a more cohesive bond at a local level.
These new financing opportunities, therefore, will above all benefit verse infrastructures, cycle paths and cycle tourism projects, such as the Eurovelo, the long-distance path.
The continuous and growing attention to cycling, therefore, is constant: around 80 billion euros have been invested by the EU in promotional projects for a different type of mobility and, among these, a growing share has gone to finance the bicycle sector.
In the years 2007-2013, 700 million euros were allocated, a figure that grew significantly to 2-2.5 billion euros in the period 2014-2020.
Despite the huge resources allocated for the development of the bicycle sector, the EFC believes that the sums to be made available should be equal to at least 6 billion euros, so as to achieve an effective modal shift. Furthermore, although countries and regions currently decide independently how to spend the money received from the ERDF and FC, according to the European Cyclist Federation the money received from the funds must be invested in projects that comply with EU regulations.
In addition, ERDF operations should contribute 30% of the fund's overall financial envelope to achieving climate objectives.
Over 200 Operational Programs will be developed to allow access to funding to all member states, negotiations which should be concluded at the end of the year in order to then start the procedures for accessing the funds.
The EFC has published 27 specific guides, each per member country, for accessing the funds. Each document provides detailed information on the regulatory and procedural framework, as well as good practices from projects already funded by the European Union.
For further information, you can consult the website ofEuropean Cyclist Federation