EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Decision No1622/2006/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a Community action for the European Capital of Culture event for the years 2007 to 2019,[1] lays down the procedure of designation of the European Capitals of Culture. According to Article 2 of this Decision, from 2009 onwards, two cities of two Member States will be designated as European Capitals of Culture, in turn, according to the chronological order set out in the Annex to the Decision. Spain and Poland are entitled to host the event in 2016.

The nomination for European Capitals of Culture concerning the year 2016 onwards is submitted to the following process.

A call for submissions of applications is published by each of the Member States concerned no later than six years before the event. A selection panel composed of 13 independent experts in the cultural sector is convened for a pre selection meeting no later than five years before the event. It assesses the applications received against the criteria laid down in article 4 of Decision No1622/2006/EC and agrees on a short list of candidate cities which have to be considered further after completing their application.

Each of the Member States concerned convenes the panel for final selection, 9 months after the pre-selection meeting. After an extensive evaluation of the pre selected cities based on the criteria laid down for the action, the panel recommends one city for the title in each Member State concerned.

On the basis of these recommendations, both Member States nominate one city each to be European Capital of Culture and notify the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Committee of the Regions no later than four years before the event in question is due to begin.

The European Parliament may forward an opinion to the Commission no later than 3 months after receipt of the nominations.

The Council, acting on a recommendation from the Commission, officially designates the cities in question for the year for which they have been nominated.

After completion of the two rounds competition described above, the panel recommended that Donostia-San Sebastián (Spain) and Wrocław (Poland) host the event in 2016 in its reports dated June 2011. Both Member States notified these nominations to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Committee of the Regions by Autumn 2011.

The European Parliament forwarded its positive opinion to the Commission in late December 2011.

Consequently, the Commission, in accordance with Article 9.3 of Decision No1622/2006/EC submits to the Council the appended recommendation for the official designation of Donostia- San Sebastián and Wrocław respectively for the 2016 European Capital of Culture event.

Recommendation for a

COUNCIL DECISION

designating the European Capital of Culture for the year 2016 in Spain and Poland

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Decision No1622/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a Community action for the European Capital of Culture event for the years 2007 to 2019[2], and in particular Article 9(3) thereof,

Having regard to the recommendation from the European Commission of the ----------------- 2012,

Having regard to the Selection Panel reports of June 2011 regarding the selection process of the European Capitals of Culture in Spain and Poland respectively,

Whereas :

Considering that the criteria referred to in Article 4 of Decision No1622/2006/EC are entirely fulfilled,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Donostia-San Sebastián and Wrocław are designated as “European Capital of Culture 2016” in Spain and Poland.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

[1] OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p1

[2] OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p1.