During the 2 days conference, which took place on the 15 and 16 of April in Zaragoza, representatives of EU governments discussed how to lay the foundations of a common policy for the integration of immigrants. Entitled "Integration as an engine for development and social cohesion", the conference analysed the various integration models developed in Europe and to drive new measures and common strategies for the whole of Europe.

"The lack of a sound legal basis has prevented us from having a common policy, but we have to continue working in order to share our experiences," said Corbacho, who considered the recognition of immigrants' rights, and the adoption of a more active integration policy to achieve equal rights and obligations for all European citizens, to be of the utmost priority.  He also asked that an overall view be taken of integration, in three fundamental spheres, namely coordination of all levels of government, interaction between the various sectors, and involvement of all actors.

In addition to this endorsement, the European Commission during the meeting presented a report in which two EUROCITIES projects - INTI-Cities and DIVE – have been commended as actions that successfully support local actors in integration. Leading the network’s first ever input into this ministerial meeting series, Daniel de Torres, Barcelona’s Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural. Barcelona, and chair of EUROCITIES Working Group Migration & Integration, hopes that our involvement becomes more entrenched at this level. Given that the Zaragoza agenda featured, among other things, social cohesion in diverse urban neighbourhoods and cooperation with civil society organisations, there is a clear case.