From the Black Forest to the Black Sea

The European Movement International (EMI) would like to draw attention to a special event that will take place at the end of August 2010.

Everyone who likes biking and who believes in European values and goals is welcome to join in on a trip along the Danube River, starting in Donaueschingen and ending in Budapest. The proposed starting date is Saturday, the 28th of August in Donaueschingen at the source of the Danube. From there, you will embark on a 1300 km long trip from town to town – including Ulm, Passau, Linz, Vienna and Bratislava – only to arrive in Budapest on Saturday, the 4th of September. At each stop, you will meet with local authorities, civil society representatives, as well as local and regional media representatives.

Potentially, the Danube-Bike-Tour will be organised in cooperation with partners like European Movement International, the Danube Office Ulm, the Danube Intergroup of the EU Committee of Regions and the representations of the Danube countries to the EU in Brussels.

Participation in the bike tour is voluntary. All bikers must finance and organise their travel to Donaueschingen and from Budapest, as well as their accommodation during the trip themselves. Hopefully the collective costs, in particular for renting the bikes and the accompanying transport car with driver, are covered by sponsors.
If you are interested in participating or sponsoring this trip, please get in touch with Ernst Piehl, coordinator and initiator of the ECT: piehl(at)scarlet.be

Non-cycling supporters are also invited to gather at the town halls of each visited city for the daily departure of the cyclists.    

A fourth ECT is planned for Spring 2011, which will complete the 3000 km Danube tour, starting in Budapest during the Hungarian EU Council Presidency. It will follow the Danube for 1700 km with stops in Croatia, Novi Sad and Beograd in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania to the Danube Delta at the Black Sea.

A fifth ECT might take place in 2012 around the Black Sea, but the enormous distance of about 6000 KM and the political conflicts with border blockades in the region might cause us to resort to ferry boats between some of the main port cities of the Black Sea.

The main objective of the European Bike Tours is to mobilise citizens and key actors in the long and difficult unification process of our continent, in particular the mayors and their teams in European cities and municipalities, as well as the media at local and regional level.

The “Europa Danubiana”, the historic Latin name for the large area of the longest river of the European Union, is an excellent example of a common European cultural space that has often been divided throughout history. After the fall of the iron curtain in 1989/1990 and the enlargement rounds of 2004 and 2007, we now have the chance to contribute to the unification process of the people in the ten Danube countries (around 75 Millions of 200 Million Europeans live in the Danube regions) and around the Black Sea, including Turkey, the South Caucasian countries, as well as the large coastal regions of Ukraine and Russia. Thanks to the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, the 3000km-long Danube connects the Black Sea with Europe’s most important port in Rotterdam and with the industrial centres of Western Europe, providing the grounds for even closer cooperation in the areas of transport, environment and economic exchange.  As the European Commission is preparing its “Danube strategy” in 2010, which should be voted on by the European Parliament and the European Council under the first Hungarian EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2011, the ECT may contribute to the campaign for a strong Danube strategy and concrete results in its implementation, including civil society and local actors.
Earlier campaigns have already contributed to a more EU-friendly climate. The first ECT, for example, was scheduled six weeks before the European elections in June 2009, which successfully increased the poor attention and weak mobilisation in the countries Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Poland along the road of more than 1700 km, in particular the municipal representatives, civil society organisations and media representatives at regional and local level. The mayors of the 25 cities that partnered up with us were very involved and contributed to increased voter turnout in 2009 – for instance, there were about 7% more votes in 2009 than in 2004 in Poland.

The second ECT in Ireland in very close cooperation with the independent non-governmental movement "IRELAND FOR EUROPE", directed by Mr. Pat Cox, former President of the European Parliament and President of the European Movement International, in the end of August/beginning of September 2009 took place before the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon treaty. The Yes campaign was successful and contributed to the Irish adoption of the Lisbon Treaty. A full report with a foreword of Pat Cox can be requested from the EMI as well as a DVD.