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Selection of ECoCs for 2020 - 2033

Since the current rules for selecting European Capitals of Culture (decision 1622/20061) will expire in 2019. In July 2012, the Commission had to submit a proposal (12558/12) to continue this initiative beyond 2019. After public consultation and internal deliberation, the outcome is a new form for selecting European Capitals of Culture from 2020 onwards until 2033.

New procedure

The announcement that new rules for the European Capitals of Culture from 2020 onwards have been published by the EU on 6.Feb. 2014 contains following wording.

"The permanent representatives of the member states endorsed on 29 January 2014 the
informal agreement found between the Council and the European Parliament
representatives on the decision establishing a Union action for the European Capitals of
Culture for the years 2020-2033. Today the European Parliament's Committee on Culture
and Education also endorsed that agreement, which paves the way for the official adoption
of the decision by the Council during the Greek Presidency."

Under this new procedure the host countries are responsible but they shall be assisted by a pre-selected jury (instead of 7 now 10 EU experts) plus 1 or 2 national experts. In a reminder of the Arab philosopher Al-Gahiz who loved to tell stories about a just distribution never been possible whether an even or odd number is used, still a crucial question is how will a possible deadlock be avoided. The past jury consisted of 7 EU and 6 national experts, so that the 13 jury members could come to a vote. One outstanding example was the case of the selection of San Sebastian for 2016 with all seven EU experts voting for the city, while all the six Spanish experts voted for another Spanish city. Still, the new formula needs to be tested in practice as to what it entails. If five against five EU experts produce a deadlock, then the one national export can tip the scale in favour of one or another city. It seems this is the intention, namely to give the host country more of a voice in the selection procedure.

The current rules for selecting European Capitals of Culture are laid down in decision
1622/20061, which will expire in 2019. In July 2012, the Commission submitted a proposal
(12558/12) to continue this initiative beyond 2019.

Press release *

In a press release, the COUCIL OF THE EUROPEA announced in Brussels, on 6th February 2014
(Reference: 5847/14):
"The permanent representatives of the member states endorsed on 29 January 2014 the
informal agreement found between the Council and the European Parliament
representatives on the decision establishing a Union action for the European Capitals of
Culture for the years 2020-2033. Today the European Parliament's Committee on Culture
and Education also endorsed that agreement, which paves the way for the official adoption
of the decision by the Council during the Greek Presidency.

The aim of the action is to promote greater mutual understanding between European
citizens and to strengthen the feeling of European citizenship, simultaneously highlighting
the richness of European cultures and both their diversity and their shared features. The
initiative - which will be financed from the Creative Europe Programme - has proved to
have a positive impact in terms of media response, local development, tourism and
recognition by the inhabitants of the importance of their selected city.

The new decision retains the general structure of the current initiative, as well as a number
of existing elements, such as the chronological order of the member states entitled to host a
European Capital of Culture, a selection based on year-long cultural programs created
specifically for the event, the eligibility of cities which may involve the surrounding region
and a two-stage selection procedure.

Role of the member state / host country

One important change concerns the designation procedure: from 2020 onwards the selected
cities will be designated directly by the member state concerned. This means that a
confirmation at EU level will no longer be necessary. The act of designation will be
formalized by the publication of the name of the city in the Official Journal of the EU.

Modification

Other modifications include the partial opening of the action to candidate and potential
candidate countries stricter and more specific selection criteria, stronger emphasis on the
long-term impact of the action, and reinforcement of the European dimension. Member
states’ experts will also continue to be involved in the work of the European panel
responsible for selection and monitoring of the cities with the same status as the European
experts.

Background
The European Capitals of Culture initiative was launched in 1985 and over 40 cities have
been designated since then. Initially an intergovernmental initiative, the European Capitals
of Culture was transformed in 1999 into a Community action in order to improve the
effectiveness of the action by establishing uniform criteria and selection procedure for all
EU cities.
The Council reached its general approach on the proposal in May 2013, and the EP's
Committee on Culture and Education voted on the Council's text also in May. Two
trilogues - informal negotiations between the Council, the European Parliament and the
Commission - took place, one in September and another in October, under the Lithuanian
Presidency, which could not settle all the issues. Therefore the European Parliament
decided to proceed with its vote in first reading on 12 December 2013.The Greek
Presidency scheduled one more trilogue for the 22 January which allowed for a final
compromise solution.
Following the Coreper's and the CULT Committee's endorsements, the Council will need
to adopt its first reading position - which will reflect the agreement found with the
European Parliament - by the beginning of March in order for the EP to adopt its second
reading position - without amendments to the Council's text - before the end of its current
term.

Regarding the designation procedure for candidate and potential candidate
countries, the Commission will designate their cities since, unlike in the case of
member states, there is no involvement of those countries in the process."

 

* http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/140924.pdf

 

 

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