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The European Commission may finally be about to appoint a European Bicycle Officer.
On the back of years of campaigning by ETRA, COLIPED and Colibi, Mattia Pelligrini of the cabinet of Vice-President Tajani, competent for transport, announced a "nice surprise" at the close of Velo City.
It appears that in the long awaited European action programme for urban transport the Commission will make the appointment of a Bicycle Officer official. He or she will be responsible for the coordination of bicycle policies in different regions.
During the closing session of Velo-city, a number of mayors called on the European institutions to show more energy in the field of cycling policy. The mayor of Copenhagen Klaus Bondam said: "MEPs and Commission members are still too hesitatant to acknowledge the full potential of cycling. And yet, every car kilometre costs Copenhagen 10 eurocents, whereas every cycled kilometre yields 16 eurocents."
