Choosing Urban Expertise for a Europe of Cities

Since the end of the 1980s, the European network of cities called Eurocities draws on a range of expertise in order to stand out as an interlocutor on urban issues in the eyes of European institutions and to take part in defining and implementing European public policies dedicated to cities. The initial construction of the network’s expertise was mainly done by academic experts. But once the network established regular relations with European institutions (the European Commission and then Parliament), these academic experts made way for experts coming from the cities’ staff and personnel. Analysing the urban expertise used and produced by this network enables us to demonstrate that it progressively met the expectations of European institutions. It also underlines some of the ways in which local actors (elected or appointed by cities and their local authorities) may make use of European institutions. Thanks to the expertise it produces and/ or uses, this network is therefore a tool of empowerment, albeit one that is difficult to control, for those cities that wish to avoid the state-level of decision making by directly going to the European level.