These last months I participated in several meetings on the rise of the radical political right in Europe and the consequences for cycling advocacy. In this article I want to reflect on this development and these discussions.
In May the CEO’s of the cyclist organisations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Flanders and the Netherlands were in a panel discussion at the Annual General Meeting of the European Cyclists’ Federation held in Utrecht. Later that month I discussed the same trend with ECF-president Henk Swarttouw. At the Velo-city conference in Gdansk I was in a discussion with collegues for Slowakia, Italy, Sweden and Spain.
The general picture from the sessions is clear: we see a general shift towards the radical right in Europe and this is negative for cycling advocacy. We see this shift at the European, national and sometimes also local level. It is a development that interacts with more general anti-cycling sentiments in society (“bikelash”). It is further reinforced by the Rearm Europe program. Climate policies are not popular any more and are being questioned. The necessity of a mobility transition is recessing into the background.
Some of the manifestations: cuts on the cycling budgets in France; the deliberate murder of cyclist Paul by a car driver in Paris; the opposition against low traffic neighbourhoods and the 15-minutecity in Britain; a negative road law in Italy; removal of bicycle paths in some Spanish towns; opposition to the pro-cycling policies in Berlin.
The scale of this development is not the same everywhere. In the Netherlands there is no general negative political development, because cyling is an important aspect of everyday life and has remained so during the past century. Even the far-right minister and deputy-minister did nod cut back on any cycling program. Bu what we do see is a policy that is now much more pro-car than it was for a long time, the right-wing parties opposing restrictions on car parking guidelines in new neigbourhoods in the cities.
Which brings us to the cities: they are at the forefront of mobility change all over Europe, Paris being the most spectacular example. The national governments are now very right-wing in many European countries, but the cities will continue their policies to create more liveable cities by prioritisin walking, cycling, public transport and greening. And we can understand that these policies also lead to opposition when cyclists become more and more visible on the streets.
This shows us the way forward for cycling advocacy. In Gdansk I said that my basic attitude is: pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will. I like this quotation by the great Italian Marxist Antonio Gramssi since the rise of neo-liberalism in the late seventies. We should not look like frightened rabbits in the front lights of cars towards the rise of the extreme right, but look for new chances for cycling advocacy. New chances always exist, some from unexpected quarters. I think it is very important to support the change in the cities and the politicians and movements supporting them. As the CEO’s stressed in Utrecht, it is very important to relate to the experiences of ordinary cyclists and citizens, not getting stuck in understandable frustrations of long-time activists.