Pact of Free Cities – A New Form of European Cities’ Cooperation

Abstract

International cooperation of cities is a crucial part of multi-level governance, yet, nowadays, it is facing new challenges, such as the pandemic or the growing role of populist movements, not to mention the war in Ukraine. The research goal of the paper is to determine what drives cities to participate in the Pact of Free Cities and what the perspectives of such an enterprise are. To reach this goal, the authors attempt to answer questions regarding the Pact’s intentions, methods of achieving its objectives and chances to do so, possible EU interest in this kind of initiative, and chances that other cities will be inspired to follow. Do cities want to bypass governments, or are there other reasons for establishing such cooperation? This exploratory case study aims to show a new form of city cooperation introduced by the Pact of Free Cities initiative.