The founding of the Economic Development Agency was possible thanks to a number of legal and administrative provisions, and it was the fruit of a series of strategic planning processes undertaken by stakeholders from around the territory over the past few years.
Law 31/2010, of August 3, on the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. This law gives the AMB the power to act in the area of economic development, specifically to promote economic activity and job and business creation and to engage in strategic planning. Article 14 establishes that the AMB can act to "promote economic activity and job and business creation in the industrial, commercial, service and tourism sectors".
The AMB's Metropolitan Strategic Reflection (REM) report (2015). This document identifies the area's sustainable development priorities,. It sets out a series of objectives and proposals related to productivity, reindustrialisation and the knowledge economy and calls for "the creation of an open platform/system [bringing together] the existing services offered by the metropolitan area's various administrative bodies and stakeholders".
The 2015-2019 AMB governing pact . Sets out a metropolitan action plan for "the promotion of economic activity in the form of supporting and coordinating economic regeneration initiatives and other projects related to attracting talent and investments, and to the proximity economy and the economy for common good".
The 2015-2019 AMB Metropolitan Action Plan . Objective 2.2 of the document calls for "a plan to regenerate the economic fabric [via support for] reindustrialisation…, SMEs, microbusinesses, new entrepreneurs and innovation throughout the metropolitan area". Section 2.2.1 features a call for "a territorial programme to address the needs for regeneration and innovation in the [area's] productive economy, as well as the needs for infrastructure, human capital, innovation and knowledge promotion". Objective 2.3 is to "create and operate a Metropolitan Economic Development Agency in coordination with the stakeholders in the territory". The objective further calls for:
- 2.3.1. "Defining areas of activity for this future Agency so that they complement the currently existing local services, particularly in the areas of internationalisation, attracting investments, intermunicipal coordination, growth and innovation strategies, and transfer of knowledge between local administrative bodies, all while bearing in mind the needs and sensitivities of the area's stakeholders".
- 2.3.2. "Actively participating in the promotion of Barcelona's brand and helping to expand it around the metropolitan area".
- 2.3.3. "Coordinating the various economic development and promotion activities and projects around the metropolitan area with a commitment to sustainability and the minimisation of the environmental impact".
The AMB Economic Regeneration and Reindustrialisation Committee (2018). The Agency's priorities emerged from the work of the Economic Regeneration and Reindustrialisation Committee, a group that brought together 400 participants (elected officials, municipal technicians, trade union representatives, business owners, experts and professionals, social and economic stakeholders from the territory, representatives of universities and technology and research institutes…) to work for almost two years on ways to further the metropolitan area's economic development. The group called for a strategy based on making improvements to economic activity estates, promoting innovation, technology and knowledge transfer, strengthening the sectors with the greatest industrial potential and added value, helping to develop human capital, ensuring that infrastructure needs are met and that a cutting-edge logistics network is put into place, defining new urban planning tools, and improving sustainability.
AMB Metropolitan Council Accord of 27/02/2018. Grants approval to the creation of the Metropolitan Economic Development Agency.
AMB Decree 23/2018. Establishes the functions of the Metropolitan Economic Development Agency.