Definition

Network of major European cities created in 1986 and which constitutes a platform for sharing ideas, exchanging experiences, and elaborating innovative responses, within the framework of common realities and issues.

In 1986 the founding cities (Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan, Rotterdam, Birmingham and Barcelona) met in Rotterdam to discuss the possibility of creating a space of European cities, and it was in Barcelona where, in a meeting in 1989, the Eurocities network was formalized.

The functioning of Eurocities is based on a double structure: on the one hand, an Executive Committee, a political organ made up of twelve cities, and on the other hand, a series of working groups and forums that provide a specific thematic focus.  The presidency is held, for a two year period, by a member city.  

The network has 212 members, between cities with full rights -159- and member cities -53-, which represent 150 million citizens from 39 countries.

Goals

• To provide the European cities with a voice in front of the Community institutions  so that the cities see their role recognised as essential actors in the process of European construction.
• The promotion of exchanges, technical cooperation and participation in transnational projects.
• Participation and organisation in campaigns at a European level.

Participation of Barcelona

Barcelona is founder member of Eurocities, together with Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan and Rotterdam, and has been a member of the Executive Committee on several occasions, from 1991 to 1994 –at the height of the network's consolidation–; from 2001 to 2003 and from 2013 to the present. The city renewed its mandate on this body for three more years during the General Assembly held by the network in Braga on June 6, 2025. At this meeting, the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, was elected Vice President of Eurocities, a position he will hold for two years, working in tandem with the Mayor of Ghent, Mathias De Clercq, as President. Barcelona has also hosted the Annual General Assembly twice, in 1989 and 2002.

In addition, Barcelona has a long history of active participation in the different Eurocities forums and working groups. More recently, in 2022 it held the Social Affairs Forum and it held the Knowledge Society Forum (KSF) presidency between 2021 and 2023. Currently, the city leads at a technical level the Data Working Groups, the City Brand and International Economic Relations and the Accessibility Working Group, called Barrier Free Cities for All.

 

List of spaces in the network with technical participation of Barcelona (2025):

DIGITAL FORUM
Data WG (chair)
Digital Citizenship WG
Urban Digital Forsight WG

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM
City Branding and International Economic Relations WG (vice chair)
Financing the Just Transition WG
Innovation and Entrepreneurship WG
Public Procurement WG

ENVIRONMENT FORUM
Air Quality WG
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency WG
Noise WG

MOBILITY FORUM
Barrier-Free city for All WG (chair)
Planning Streets for People WG
30Km/h and Speed Management Strategies TF

SOCIAL AFFAIRS FORUM
Education WG
Employment WG
Homelessness WG
Housing WG
Social Innovation WG
Welbeing & Ageing WG
Improving citie's access to EU-Level funding for affordable and social housing TF
ESF+ TF

COOPERATION / GOVERNANCE
Women's rights and Gender Equality TF
Climate Neutral and Just Transition TF
Sustainable Development Goals TF
City Science Initiative
MFF Task Force

Recent Eurocities events held in Barcelona:

• Annual Conference and General Assembly 2002
• Knowledge Society Forum Meeting 2019
• Social Affairs Forum Meeting 2022
• Executive Commettee Meeting 2023
• European Mayors Summit 2023
• Public Transport for a Sustainable Future of Europe 2024
• Democracy Lab 2024