Jacob Christensen

Charlemagne – of The Economist, not of the Franks – wonders if Barack Obama has accidentally fired a rather explosive device in the run-up to the European elections by calling for Turkish membership of the EU.

As we all remember, there were some recent incidents involving Denmark and Turkey and the Danish People’s Party tried to make to most of it. If we look at the platforms for the 2009 European Parliament election – see my links here – most parties dodge the issue one way or the other.

• No mention: Social Democrats, Conservatives, June Movement, People’s Movement.
• Strongly negative: Danish People’s Party (“Turkey should never be a member of the EU” – Islam, women’s rights and size/economic development as the main arguments)
• Mention: Liberals (“Not relevant at the moment or in the shorter term”)
• Positive: Socialists, Social Liberals (long term – when the country lives up to membership criteria)

Much can be said about the bike (as in bicycle, not motor-bike): It is cheap and flexible and its biggest drawbacks are the effects of rain, limited ability to carry groceries and your everyday IKEA shopping, and – unfortunately – that some people have a tendency to view a bike as a common-pool resource.

Copenhagen used to be a great biking city but fifteen years or economic boom and eight years of right-wing government have done their best to drive Danes into real means of transportation (i.e. cars). With a little luck, we should be able to get rid of buses and trains as well and get the Copenhageners to be like Jutes.

So, how about Stockholm? As it turns out, the much-ridiculed bike-lanes have been a success, and the Cycling-planner at the Sotckholm Infrastructure Office has some interesting words to say about cycling and cyclists:

Om inte cykeln går sönder på vägen är det lätt att beräkna restiden på en eller ett par minuter när. Den som tar bilen eller bussen har ingen aning om hur långvarig resan blir.

–?De som cyklar har gjort ett medvetet val. De cyklar av miljöskäl, för att få motion eller för att de trivs med att det är tidsbesparande. De som cyklar tjänar också mer än genomsnittet och cyklar inte för att de inte har råd med bil eller SL-kort, säger Krister Isaksson.

Or in plain English:

As long as the bike doesn’t break down along the way, it is easy to calculate the travelling time within a couple of minutes. If you travel by car or bus, you have no idea how long your journey is going to take.

- Those who ride bikes have made a conscious choice. They ride bikes for environmental reasons, to get excercise or because they like the idea that it saves them time. Cyclists are also above-average earners and don’t ride bikes because they can’t afford a car or a commuter card.