The Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, presided over the constitutive meeting of the Barcelona Europe Advisory Committee, a new space for participation and strategic deliberation integrating 25 institutions, entities, and foundations. The event took place at the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall.
This consultative body, outlined in the Barcelona Europe Plan, aims to enhance citizens' quality of life by influencing EU decisions. The committee will connect municipal European policy with the city's ecosystem active at the European level, bringing together representatives of European institutions in Barcelona, entities promoting the city's European character, and other institutions with shared values and interests.
Collboni highlighted the committee's composition as a testament to the "strength of Barcelona's civil society" and expressed confidence in Barcelona's significant role in the EU's future evolution. He emphasized leveraging the city's experience in building the Europe of regions and city networks.
The mayor noted that open cities with democratic and progressive values face states with regressive tendencies, emphasizing that while cities have fewer resources than states, they build horizontal collaboration networks for specific goals, offering flexibility to redefine the future.
Committee members include the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), the Barcelona Knowledge Alliance (UB, UAB, UPF, UPC), the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona, CCOO, the CCCB, the Cercle d’Economia, CIDOB, the Catalan Council of the European Movement, the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre Consortium, the Catalonia International Consortium, the Consorci de la Zona Franca, Fira de Barcelona, Foment del Treball, the Catalunya Europa Foundation, the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation, the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Metropolitan Observatory of Housing of Barcelona (O-HB), the European Parliament Office in Barcelona, PIMEC, the Port of Barcelona, PRIMA, the Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona, the Table of Social Third Sector Entities of Catalonia, and UGT.
The Committee will be structured with a Plenary (minimum 2 annual meetings), a Presidency appointed by the mayor, thematic commissions, and working groups. Its functions include assisting the mayor in defining municipal European policy, interpreting EU agendas from a city perspective, exchanging information and priorities, aligning municipal policy with city stakeholders, and facilitating the connection of European initiatives.
The Barcelona Europe Plan promotes a structured, coherent, and participatory municipal European policy, aiming to seize opportunities, enhance influence, and consolidate Barcelona's leadership as a European, Mediterranean, and global city. The plan comprises 4 strategic axes and 34 measures to strengthen political impact, increase the absorption of European funds, bolster international projection, and translate European participation into tangible municipal improvements.
