Eurocities
 | |
| Formation | 1986 |
|---|---|
| Type | Network of cities |
| Location | |
Region served | Europe |
Membership | 140 member cities |
Official language | English |
Secretary General | Anna Lisa Boni |
| Website |
www |
EUROCITIES is a group of European cities, founded in 1986 by the mayors of Barcelona, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan, and Rotterdam. The 1989 Barcelona conference agreed that a key task was to put the issue of cities and their economic, political and social development onto the European agenda.
In 2011 the network includes more than 135 European cities from 34 different countries, and most European capital-cities have joined. The EUROCITIES secretariat is based in Brussels, Belgium. The founders suggested that major European cities could benefit from forming such an association. They intended to form a political platform to act as a channel for communicating with the European institutions and to become recognised as significant partners in the European community and each member's state.
Activities
EUROCITIES works along three complementary strands of activities:
- networking: through forums and working groups, EUROCITIES offers members the chance to develop contacts with colleagues in other European cities. Cities can exchange experiences and ideas, meet people in other European cities who are working on the same issues and form ideas for common projects and innovative working methods.
- influencing: representing the interests of cities towards the European institutions and strengthens the role of cities in European decision-making through concrete actions.
- visibility: providing a European platform to city politicians and representing cities through the European and local media and international campaigns and events.
Membership criteria
Membership of Eurocities is open to any European city with a population of 250,000 or more. Cities within the European Union become full members, and other European cities become associate members. Local authorities of smaller cities, and organisations not eligible to become full or associate members, can become associated partners. Companies and businesses are allowed to become associated business partners.