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. Denmark and Cyprus are entitled to host the event in 2017. Malta is one of the two Member States entitled to host the event in 2018, alongside the Netherlands, and decided to proceed with its selection procedure one year ahead of the normal time schedule.

The nomination for European Capitals of Culture concerning the years 2017 and 2018 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, each Member State nominates one city to be European Capital of Culture and notifies 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-round competition described above, the panel recommended that Aarhus (Denmark) and Paphos (Cyprus) host the event in 2017 in its respective reports dated September 2012 and that Valletta (Malta) host the event in 2018 in its report dated November 2012. The three Member States notified these nominations to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Committee of the Regions in the Autumn 2012.

The European Parliament forwarded its positive opinions to the Commission in February 2013.

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 Aarhus and Paphos for the 2017 European Capital of Culture event in Denmark and Cyprus respectively and for the official designation of Valletta for the 2018 European Capital of Culture event in Malta.

Recommendation for a

COUNCIL DECISION

designating the European Capital of Culture for the year 2017 in Denmark and in Cyprus and the European Capital of Culture for the year 2018 in Malta

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,

Having regard to the Selection Panel reports of September 2012 regarding the selection process of the European Capitals of Culture in Denmark and Cyprus,

Having regard to the Selection Panel report of November 2012 regarding the selection process of the European Capital of Culture in Malta,

Whereas :

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Aarhus and Paphos are designated as “European Capital of Culture 2017” respectively in Denmark and Cyprus.

Valletta is designated as “European Capital of Culture 2018” in Malta.

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, p. 1.

[2] OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p. 1.