The European Commission, through its Vice-President and head of the European Green Deal, Maros Sefcovic, shortlisted five Spanish cities (Madrid, Valencia, Valladolid, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zaragoza) to receive the Mission Label after assessing their climate agreements.
He announced this on Thursday in Brussels to mark the celebration of the European Week of Regions and Cities, recognising the process promoted by these cities and as a tool to help facilitate access to national, regional and European Union funding, as well as private investment within the framework of the European Mission of Cities.
The European Commission launched five missions in 2021 under the programme Horizon Europe to accelerate the implementation of the European Green Deal, including the Climate Neutral and Smart Cities mission, one of the main instruments to put innovation at the service of cities' green and digital transition.
The mission involves administrations, companies, investors and citizens by promoting the achievement of climate neutrality in 100 EU cities by 2030, becoming a hub of innovation and experimentation for all European cities to reach the same goal by the middle of the century.
On 25 November 2021, the Commission launched the call for "expression of interest" from cities wishing to be part of the mission. They were required to submit information on their current situation, ongoing actions and plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
The call closed at the end of January 2022 with 377 candidate cities from all EU Member States, including 25 Spanish cities and eight partner countries (including the UK and Norway).
The selection process concluded in April 2022, and 100 EU cities were invited to be part of the European Mission, plus another 12 from Partner States. Among them, seven Spanish cities were selected (Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zaragoza), which account for 16% of the country's population.
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