European Capital of Culture

A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can be an opportunity for a city to generate considerable cultural, social and economic benefits and it can help foster urban regeneration, change the city's image and raise its visibility and profile on an international scale. Multiple cities can be a European Capital of Culture simultaneously.

The logo used by European Commission for European Capital of Culture

In 1985, Melina Mercouri, Greece’s Minister of Culture, and her French counterpart Jack Lang came up with the idea of designating an annual City of Culture to bring Europeans closer together by highlighting the richness and diversity of European cultures and raising awareness of their common history and values.

The Commission of the European Union manages the title and each year the Council of Ministers of the European Union formally designates European Capitals of Culture: more than 40 cities have been designated so far. The current European Capitals of Culture for 2023 are Eleusis in Greece, Timișoara in Romania and Veszprém in Hungary.

Selection process
Melina Mercouri

An international panel of cultural experts is in charge of assessing the proposals of cities for the title according to criteria specified by the European Union.

For two of the capitals each year, eligibility is open to cities in EU member states only. From 2021 and every three years thereafter, a third capital will be chosen from cities in countries that are candidates or potential candidates for membership, or in countries that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA)[1][2]– an example of the latter being Stavanger, Norway, which was a European Capital of Culture in 2008.

A 2004 study conducted for the Commission, known as the "Palmer report", demonstrated that the choice of European Capital of Culture served as a catalyst for cultural development and the transformation of the city.[3] Consequently, the beneficial socio-economic development and impact for the chosen city are now also considered in determining the chosen cities.

Bids from five United Kingdom cities to be the 2023 Capital of Culture were disqualified in November 2017, because the UK was planning to leave the EU before 2023.[4]

History

The European Capital of Culture programme was initially called the European City of Culture and was conceived in 1983, by Melina Mercouri, then serving as minister of culture in Greece. Mercouri believed that at the time, culture was not given the same attention as politics and economics and a project for promoting European cultures within the member states should be pursued. The European City of Culture programme was launched in the summer of 1985 with Athens being the first title-holder.[5] In 1999, the European City of Culture program was renamed to European Capital of Culture.[6]

List of European Capitals of Culture
Veszprém (Hungary), the European Capital of Culture for 2023
Timișoara (Romania), the European Capital of Culture for 2023
Eleusis (Greece), the European Capital of Culture for 2023
European Capitals of Culture
Year#CityCountryNotes/Links
1985Athens Greece
1986Florence Italy
1987Amsterdam Netherlands
1988West Berlin West GermanyBerlin since German reunification in 1990
1989Paris France
1990Glasgow United KingdomGlasgow Garden Festival
1991Dublin Ireland
1992Madrid Spain
1993Antwerp Belgium
1994Lisbon Portugal
1995Luxembourg City Luxembourg
1996Copenhagen Denmark
1997Thessaloniki Greece
1998Stockholm Sweden
1999Weimar Germany
2000Avignon FranceThe year 2000 was called the millennium year and treated in a special way, in order to emphasize the enduring heritage and contribution of European cities to world culture and civilization. Because of that, nine locations were chosen, including two cities of states that were to join the EU on 1 May 2004.[7]
Bergen Norway
Bologna Italy
Brussels Belgium
Helsinki Finland
Kraków Poland
Prague Czech Republic
Reykjavík Iceland
Santiago de Compostela Spain
2001Rotterdam Netherlands
Porto Portugal
2002Bruges Belgium
Salamanca Spain
2003Graz Austria
2004Genoa Italy
Lille France
2005Cork IrelandCork Caucus
2006Patras Greece
2007Sibiu Romania
Luxembourg City Luxembourg
2008Liverpool United Kingdom
Stavanger Norway
2009Vilnius Lithuania
Linz AustriaLinz 2009
2010Essen GermanyRepresenting the whole Ruhr as Ruhr.2010.
Istanbul Turkey
Pécs Hungary
2011Turku Finland
Tallinn Estonia
2012Guimarães Portugal
Maribor Slovenia
2013Marseille FranceMarseille-Provence 2013
Košice Slovakia
2014Riga Latvia
Umeå Sweden
2015Mons Belgium
Plzeň Czech Republic
2016San Sebastián Spain
Wrocław Poland
2017Aarhus DenmarkAarhus 2017
Paphos CyprusPafos 2017
2018Leeuwarden Netherlands
Valletta MaltaValletta 2018
2019Matera Italy
Plovdiv BulgariaPlovdiv 2019
2020 – April 2021Rijeka CroatiaRijeka 2020
Galway Ireland
2022Kaunas LithuaniaKaunas 2022
Esch-sur-Alzette LuxembourgEsch-sur-Alzette 2022
Novi Sad SerbiaNovi Sad 2022 (Coronavirus postponement)
20231Veszprém HungaryVeszprém 2023
Timișoara RomaniaTimișoara 2023 (Coronavirus postponement)
Eleusis GreeceEleusis 2023 (Coronavirus postponement)
20241Tartu EstoniaTartu 2024
2Bad Ischl AustriaSalzkammergut 2024
32Bodø NorwayBodø 2024
2025Nova Gorica/Gorizia joint bid Slovenia
 Italy		GO! 2025
Chemnitz GermanyChemnitz 2025
2026Trenčín[8] SlovakiaTrenčín 2026
Oulu FinlandOulu 2026
2027Liepāja LatviaLiepāja 2027
Évora PortugalÉvora 2027
20281České Budějovice[9] Czech RepublicČeské Budějovice 2028
2TBA 13 December 2023[10] Franceshortlisted cites:[11] Rouen, Bourges, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier
32Skopje North MacedoniaSkopje 2028
2029TBA
shortlist: mid-2024[12]		 Polandcandidate cities:[12][13]Bielsko-Biała, Bydgoszcz, Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Katowice, Kielce, Kołobrzeg, Lublin, Opole, Płock, Pszczyna, Rzeszów, Toruń
TBA Swedenapplication deadline: 2 December 2023[14] /
potential candidates cities:[15] Kiruna, Uppsala
20301TBA Cyprus
2TBA Belgiumpotential candidate cities: Brussels[16] Leuven,[17] Liège, Kortrijk, Ghent
32TBATBA
2031TBA Maltapotential candidate cities: Tarxien, Cottonera, Sliema, & Gozo
TBA Spainpotential candidate cities: Burgos, Cáceres, Granada, Jerez de la Frontera
2032TBA Bulgariapotential candidate cities: Veliko Tarnovo
TBA Denmarkpotential candidate cities: Næstved[18]
20331TBA Netherlandspotential candidate city: Enschede
2TBA Italypotential candidate city: Turin[19]
32TBATBA

1 The European Capital of Culture was due to be in the UK in 2023. However, due to its decision to leave the European Union, UK cities would no longer be eligible to hold the title after 2019. The European Commission's Scotland office confirmed that this would be the case on 23 November 2017, only one week before the UK was due to announce which city would be put forward.[20] The candidate cities were Dundee,[21] Leeds, Milton Keynes,[22] Nottingham and a joint bid from Northern Irish cities of Belfast and Derry and the town of Strabane.[23]

2 A new framework makes it possible for cities in candidate countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey), potential candidates for EU membership (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) or EFTA member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) to hold the title every third year as of 2021. This will be selected through an open competition, meaning that cities from various countries may compete with each other.[24]

Locations of European Capitals of Culture. Green designates current cities; red is for past cities; and blue for future cities.

See also

References
  1. "Decision No 445/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014". 3 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  2. "European Capitals of Culture 2020 to 2033 — A guide for cities preparing to bid" (PDF). European Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  3. Palmer, Robert. "European Cities and Capitals of Culture" (PDF). ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2015. Study prepared for the European Commission
  4. "Brexit blow to UK 2023 culture crown bids". BBC News. 23 November 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  5. Kiran Klaus Patel, ed., The Cultural Politics of Europe: European Capitals of Culture and European Union since the 1980s (London: Routledge, 2013)
  6. "History – UNeECC". Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  7. "Association of European Cities of Culture of the Year 2000 - KRAKOW THE OPEN CITY". www.krakow.pl. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  8. "Trenčín to be the European Capital of Culture 2026 in Slovakia". europa.eu. 10 December 2021. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  9. "České Budějovice to be the European Capital of Culture 2028 in the Czech Republic". European Commission. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  10. "Designated European Capitals of Culture". European Commission. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  11. "Bourges, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier, Rouen : quatre villes pré-sélectionnées pour devenir la « Capitale européenne de la Culture » en 2028". Ministère de la Culture (in French). 3 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  12. "12 polskich miast złożyło deklaracje o przystąpieniu do konkursu o tytuł Europejskiej Stolicy Kultury 2029". gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  13. "Poland 2029, eight cities today in the running for the Ecoc title". ecocnews.com. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  14. "v". Kulturrådet (in Swedish). 16 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  15. "Sweden 2029, only Kiruna and Uppsala are candidates. Why?". EcocNews.com. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  16. Let’s make Brussels the cultural capital of Europe!
  17. "Leuven stelt zich kandidaat als Europese Culturele Hoofdstad 2030". demorgen.be. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  18. "Vild plan: Vil gøre Næstved til europæisk kulturhovedstad". 11 January 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  19. "Torino Capitale europea della Cultura nel 2033? Il Consiglio comunale dice "sì" alla candidatura". Torino Oggi. 19 April 2021. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  20. Brady, Jon (23 November 2017). "Brexit destroys Dundee's hopes of being European Capital of Culture in 2023". Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  21. Lorimer, Scott. "The latest news and sport from Dundee, Tayside and Fife". Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  22. "European Capital of Culture". www.milton-keynes.gov.uk. Milton Keynes Council. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  23. Meredith, Robbie (5 July 2017). "NI councils make bid for European Capital of Culture title". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  24. "European Capitals of Culture". European Union. 6 February 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
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