European Capital of Culture
Encyclopedia : E : EU : EUR : European Capital of Culture
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Life in the European Union
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History
Conceived as a means of bringing citizens of European Union (or EC, as then was) closer together, the European City of Culture was launched on June 13, 1985 by the Council of Ministers on the initiative of the Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri. Since then, the initiative has been more and more successful amongst European citizens and has had a growing cultural and socio-economic impact on the numerous visitors it has attracted.
The European Cities of Culture were designated on an intergovernmental basis until 2004; the Member States unanimously selected the cities most likely to welcome the event and the European Commission granted a subsidy to the selected city each year. As of 2005, the EU's institutions will take part in the selection procedure of the cities that will host the event.
In 1990, the Ministers of Culture launched the "European Cultural Month". This event is similar to the European City of Culture but goes on for a shorter period and is addressed to Central and Eastern European countries in particular. The Commission grants a subsidy for the European Cultural Month each year.
As early as 1991, the organisers of the different European Cities of Culture created the Network of European Cultural Capitals and Months ([ECCM] - info: rmaslias
Individual cities have looked to evaluate their own experience in different ways; it is not easy to track long term evaluations of city experiences in every case. Charles Landry of the UK-based cultural consultancy Comedia has recently published an interesting evaluation of the Helsinki Year of Culture in 2000.
In 1999, the European City of Culture was renamed the European Capital of Culture, and it is now financed through the Culture 2000 programme. Cork City, in Ireland, was the first city in Europe to hold the prestigious Capital of Culture title. The European Parliament and Council Decision of May 25, 1999 integrates this event into the Community framework and introduces a new selection procedure for the Capitals for the 2005–2019 period. This was done to avoid overly fierce competition to win the accolade; each EU member nation will be given the opportunity to "host" the capital in turn. Starting in 2005, two cities will now share this status each year.
In 2004, the European Commission asked Robert Palmer, director of Palmer-Rae Associates, to evaluate the programme of European Capitals of Culture 1994-2004, following an earlier evaluation study examining European Capitals of Culture 1985-1993. The latest study comprehensively deals with cultural, economic, visitor, social and European perspectives of the European Capital of Culture action. It comprises two volumes: one of summary findings, analyses and conclusions; a second of individual case studies. Both volumes can be [freely downloaded].
Based on Palmer's findings, the European Commission has made recommendations for changing the procedures for selecting and monitoring European Capitals of Culture and for placing increased emphasis on the cultural and European components of the action.
It is likely that the Parliament will agree to such changes, and continue the action of European capitals of Culture until at least 2019, with the designation of two European Capitals of Culture each year. Details are provided on the website of the European Commission Education and Culture: [Culture in European Union]
On 11 March 2006, the Turkish city of Istanbul, the Hungarian city of Pécs and the German city of Essen (representing the Ruhrgebiet region) were selected as European Capitals of Culture for 2010 by the EU council.
Only European cities within member states of the EU are eligible — other European cities are not. However, the EU council can designate one city from a non-EU country for a given year, if that city's designation is approved unanimously in the council.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.European Cities/Capitals of Culture
Past European Capitals of Culture
Current European Capital of Culture
Future European Capitals of Culture
According to the official EU websitehttp://ec.europa.eu/culture/eac/other_actions/cap_europ/cap_futur_en.html
Please note: Between 2007 and 2018 multiple cities are named European Capital of Culture.References
See also
External links
Current Official Site
Capital/Cities of Culture Sites
Others
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