The European Union and cities: Creating, shaping and enforcing international law

The chapter aims to examine the European Union and its approach towards engaging cities in law-, decision and policy-making processes. The idea of involving cities in cooperation dates back to the early 1990s, when the Maastricht Treaty transformed the Consultative Council into the European Committee of the Regions (ECoR) - a permanent body within the EU institutional system. At the same time, cities began to be increasingly perceived as valuable partners, which became visible in subsequent EU programs and financial perspectives (the amounts allocated for urban development have been increasing). Even though the nature of the CoR has not officially changed over the 30 years of its existence and it is still an advisory body, its growing role can be noticed (including the possibility of filing a complaint in the European Court of Justice), and decision-making institutions often take into account the opinions of the CoR in the decision-making process. The chapter shows that over the last three decades, the role of cities in the EU has changed and they are no longer only the subject of EU policies but also undertake many grassroots activities within the ECoR, act as main actors in city networks cooperating with the EU, as well as perform individual actions allowing informal influence on other EU institutions