Netherlands now has Presidency of the EU but cycling not on the agenda

The Netherlands holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union until 30th June. This role kicked in on January 1st but from the priorities given by the Presidency team don’t expect there to be any pro-cycling measures pushed through during the six months that Dutch folks will be in charge

“The Dutch tradition of consultation and cooperation can accomplish a lot in Europe,” says the Presidency team, but the world-famous penchant for pedalling in the Netherlands is nowhere in evidence. A two-minute introductory film on the priorities for the Netherlands doesn’t mention transport. When quizzed on this, the wranglers of the EU2016-NL Twitter-feed pointed BikeBiz to a transport document that doesn’t feature cycling.

Instead, the transport priorities of the Netherlands during its EU Presidency will be drones, railways, ports and driverless cars.

In the media section of the EU Presidency’s website journalists are advised to use trams, buses and trains when in Amsterdam to cover EU business but – perhaps bizarrely – there is no mention of bicycles, not even the famous rental ones.

However, there’s a glimmer of hope. The EU2016NL Twitter team told BikeBiz: "There will be a lot of cycling-related activities during #EU2016NL, more information very shortly. We’ll update you when!"