Organisation
On 24 June, 2004 the day had come. Lord mayors, mayors and rural administrators from the Nuremberg metropolitan region signed a joint resolution at the regional conference "A Metropolitan Region Takes Form", laying the cornerstone for the European metropolitan region Nuremberg, EMN in short.
Nearly one year later, on 28 April, 2005, the Minister Conference for Regional Planning, MKRO in short, the title "metropolitan region" was conferred upon Nuremberg. The entire region around Nuremberg has thus officially advanced to the "champions' league" of European economic regions.
On 12 May, 2005, the charter for the metropolitan regions was signed by around 60 regional representatives from communities, industry, science, administration and culture. This certifies their will to cooperate and defines premises, functions and tasks for the Nuremberg metropolitan region. Since May, 2005 the EMN is a member of the Initiative Group of the European Metropolitan Regions in Germany. The metropolitan region has already taken an active role in the METREX association of metropolitan regions since 2003.
The organisation of the EMN is viewed as an innovative example of self-governing within a metropolitan region, in modern linguistic terms metropolitan governance. The core idea is that representatives from different social areas – industry, politics, administration, culture and sport – assume joint responsibility for the region.
The council forms the democratic legitimation core of the Nuremberg metropolitan region, in which 54 lord mayors, mayors and rural administrators work together. Also included as co-opted members are two members of the Bavarian state government with residence in Franconia, as well as one president each as representative of the four rural district parliaments and administrative districts concerned.
A board of directors is assigned to each forum, comprising a political speaker, a speaker for specialised areas, and a general manager.
In the management group of the metropolitan region, the boards of directors of the forums prepare strategic recommendations for the council, together with the council chairman, coordinate projects, and discuss current topics.