I don't know about Germany; my understanding is it's quite a specific country in many ways (rich and orderly). But at least in Romania (this thread), in my hom

I don't know about Germany; my understanding is it's quite a specific country in many ways (rich and orderly). But at least in Romania (this thread), in my home country CZ, and I suspect in the rest of East Europe, "close cooperation on the municipal level" is a big part of the problem. If you're interested, here are a few articles about the veritable EU money embezzlement business of bicycle paths (use Google translate). It runs deep, deep into politics: https://ihned.cz/c1-51748500-cyklostezky-byznys-pro-vyvolene https://ihned.cz/c1-51748500-cyklostezky-byznys-pro-vyvolene https://www.lidovky.cz/byznys/statni-pokladna/praha-ma-nejdrazsi-cyklostezku-v-evrope-3-km-staly-150-milionu.A100201_102755_statni-pokladna_nev https://www.lidovky.cz/byznys/statni-pokladna/praha-ma-nejdr... (1700 EUR / metre) https://prahounakole.cz/2011/03/kauza-cyklostezka-sedlec-dusledek-chybneho-systemu/ https://prahounakole.cz/2011/03/kauza-cyklostezka-sedlec-dus... (2300 EUR / m) https://www.idnes.cz/jihlava/zpravy/cyklostezka-havlickuv-brod-vysocina-sazava-konzole-most-hotel-dotace.A170915_352140_jihlava-zpravy_mv https://www.idnes.cz/jihlava/zpravy/cyklostezka-havlickuv-br... (3000 EUR / m) https://domaci.ihned.cz/c1-52527290-cyklolavka-vede-odnikud-nikam-praha-kvuli-tomu-vratila-unii-50-milionu-korun https://domaci.ihned.cz/c1-52527290-cyklolavka-vede-odnikud-... (9000 EUR / m) https://www.idnes.cz/jihlava/zpravy/cyklostezka-tunel-doprava-stavba-zelen-strom-kaceni-pavov-jihlava-vysocina.A180621_410104_jihlava-zpravy_Mv https://www.idnes.cz/jihlava/zpravy/cyklostezka-tunel-doprav... https://www.idnes.cz/hradec-kralove/zpravy/cyklostezka-kostelec-lipa.A130422_143148_hradec-zpravy_tuu https://www.idnes.cz/hradec-kralove/zpravy/cyklostezka-koste... etc etc Do you think the taxpayers, given a choice, would willingly contribute their tax money to such projects? Hence "nonsense". Also note these projects often go against the wishes of local residents, and cost participation is ≫0% (EU/gvt subsidizes part of the cost + local municipality pays the rest). Which means, the local taxpayers get fucked over twice. Local politicians and their connected businesses profit.