European Capitals of Culture 2007 - 2019

2005/0102(COD)

Pending the opinion of the European Parliament, the Council agreed a general approach on a decision establishing the European Capital of Culture event for the years 2007-2019.

The decision is aimed at replacing the previous decision, which established the event from 2005 to 20191. Experience has shown that in spite of the positive impact of the event in terms of media resonance, development of culture and tourism and recognition by inhabitants of the designated cities, there is room for improvement, particularly as regards:

§         competition between cities (Member States should organise competitions at national level between interested cities);

§         the composition of the selection panel: 6 experts will be designated by the Member State concerned;

§         the 7 members nominated by the European institutions will be appointed for 3 years;

§         guidance and monitoring, which is to be carried out by an advisory panel;

§         European added value (selection criteria: European and citizenship dimensions;

§         extension of the time allowed for planning;

§         the award of a monetary prize for quality of the project.

Cities designated for 2009 : in accordance with Decision 1419/1999/EC, the Council designated Linz (Austria) and Vilnius (Lithuania) as European Capitals of Culture for 2009.

Members of the 2010 selection panel : the Council appointed Mr Claude Frisoni (Luxembourg) and Sir Jeremy Isaacs (United Kingdom) as Council representatives for the European Capital of Culture 2010 selection panel. The two candidates were proposed by the Luxembourg and United Kingdom delegations at the last meeting of the Council on 23 May 2005. The decision will be entered in the minutes of the Council's meeting and, thereafter, the Presidency will inform the Commission about the Council's designation of the members for the selection panel. It is recalled that, under Decision 1419/1999/EC, each year the Commission forms a selection panel composed of seven leading independent figures who are experts on the cultural sector. The panel then issues a report on the designation of the cities as Capitals of Culture. Under Decision 2000/C9/013, each of the two Member States holding the Presidency during a given year nominates a leading figure with a view to their appointment by the Council as its representatives on the selection panel for the following year.