On May 20, Mayor Jaume Collboni chaired the inaugural meeting of the “Europa Pròxima” – Local Europe working group, an initiative promoted by Barcelona City Council. Coordinated by CIDOB and the Catalunya Europa Foundation, the group aims to reinforce the role of cities within the institutional architecture and decision-making processes of the European Union. At a time marked by significant global instability, cities are emerging as key factors of resilience and stability, thanks to their proximity to citizens and their crucial role in implementing European policies.

Accompanied by Pol Morillas, Director of CIDOB; Dolors Camats, Director of the Catalunya Europa Foundation; and Mar Jiménez, Commissioner for European Affairs, the mayor thanked the twenty international experts and leading institutional representatives tasked with developing concrete and viable proposals to strengthen the institutional and political voice of cities at the European level, both structurally and in three specific public policy areas: housing, climate action, and innovation and competitiveness.

Collboni emphasized that “it is at the urban scale where European integration becomes tangible and meaningful for citizens, where European policies are translated into concrete realities, and where the European project is built and gains its legitimacy.” He added that the working group’s objective is clear: “We seek recognition from European institutions so that cities become essential actors in both defining and implementing solutions to global challenges.”

The mayor recalled that “Barcelona is a European and pro-European city, taking the initiative and exercising its voice and responsibility to lead ‘Europa Pròxima’, the Europe of proximity,” reviving the legacy of Pasqual Maragall, which has returned strongly to influence European institutions. “When Barcelona speaks, we are heard,” he said, highlighting the city’s intense agenda in Brussels in recent months with the Mayors for Housing alliance —which recently presented its European Housing Action Plan to the European Commission— and the recent approval of the housing opinion in the European Committee of the Regions.

He also stressed that it is time for “large cities to speak out, as they are true democratic strongholds at a time of regression, when the founding principles of the EU are under threat,” expressing his conviction that Europe needs the influence of its cities. The new group will work on “defining and proposing a new European governance architecture in an era increasingly shaped by urbanization, where cities are home to 75% of the population and are on the front line of the most urgent challenges.”

Collboni also recalled that the Treaty on European Union already establishes that decisions should be taken “as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen,” and that this is precisely why cities like Barcelona want to become active and strategic participants in multilateral governance.

For her part, Dolors Camats, Director of the Catalunya Europa Foundation, stated that “Pasqual Maragall used to say that Europe begins on your street. He meant that cities are the first and best line of defense against Europe’s major current challenges, such as authoritarianism, which threatens the welfare state and democratic values. It is in cities where public services are provided and where democracy is built day by day.” She encouraged the experts “to be brave and creative, to have the courage to question the status quo, as Maragall did. Because defending the central role of cities in Europe is defending a freer, fairer, and more democratic Europe.”

According to Pol Morillas, Director of CIDOB, “in a world where the European and international spheres are dominated by geopolitics, CIDOB’s goal within the Local Europe project is to connect the international and local dimensions. To act as intermediaries in this complex world with a plurality of actors participating internationally, among whom cities stand out.” Linking cities with European solutions is the main objective of the Working Group that begins its work today.

The Local Europe Working Group: A window of opportunity for cities in a changing and unstable European context

The group of experts has been tasked with developing a set of concrete and viable policy proposals to strengthen the institutional and political voice of cities at the European level, both structurally and in three specific areas of public policy: housing, climate action, and innovation and competitiveness.

The main objectives of the working group are:

• Critically and constructively analyze the current role of cities in European governance.
• Formulate concrete and viable proposals to strengthen their institutional and political influence.
• Contribute to a vision of a “Europe of proximity” that reinforces the local dimension of the European project.

The outcome of the group’s work will be a final report with recommendations and an advocacy agenda that will serve as a reference for European city policies, particularly for Barcelona, to be published in March 2026. This will inform the European strategy of Barcelona City Council —and, to the extent that they wish to adopt it, other cities and city networks involved in the working group.

The group includes two types of participant profiles. On one hand, experts in cities and European governance, such as representatives of city networks, municipal governments, academics, and individuals with experience in cohesion policy. On the other hand, experts in the three thematic areas identified as urban challenges.

Local Europe is composed of:

1. Mireia Belil, Geographer and expert in urban governance
2. Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor for European and International Affairs, Bologna City Council
3. Federica Bordelot, Director of Policy and Impact, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)
4. Sorcha Edwards, Secretary General, Housing Europe
5. Leilani Farha, Director of The Shift and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing
6. Thomas Hickmann, Researcher, Lund University
7. Elizabeth Kuiper, Associate Director and Head of the Social Europe and Well-being Programme, European Policy Centre
8. Pirita Lindholm, Director, European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN)
9. Pep Martorell, Deputy Director, Barcelona Supercomputing Center
10. Andreu Mas-Colell, Professor and contributor to the Draghi Report, Pompeu Fabra University
11. Caroline Nevejan, Chief Science Officer, Amsterdam City Council
12. Dorthe Nielsen, Director of Strategic Advocacy, Policy and Impact at European and International Level, Institute for Climate Economics
13. Andrea Noferini, Professor of Political Science, Pompeu Fabra University
14. Xavier Prats Monné, Special Adviser and former Director-General for Health and Food Safety, and for Education and Culture, European Commission
15. Octavi Quintana, Director, PRIMA Foundation
16. Eulàlia Rubio, Senior Research Fellow in Economic Affairs, Jacques Delors Institute
17. André Sobczak, Secretary General of Eurocities
18. Gianluca Spinaci, Adviser, General Secretariat, Committee of the Regions
19. Anna Terrón, Senior Research Fellow, Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
20. Iván Tosics, Managing Director, Metropolitan Research Institute