Proposal for a Council Decision on the European Capital of Culture event for the year 2013
Date: 2009-04-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: France, Slovakia, capital city, cultural event, cultural policy, town

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.4.2009 
COM(2009) 176 final 

Recommendation for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

On the European Capital of Culture event for the year 2013 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Decision  1622/2006/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. France and Slovakia are entitled to host the event 
in 2013. 

The  nomination  for  European  Capitals  of  Culture  concerning  the  year  2013  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  1622/2006/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 
Marseille  (France)  and  Košice  (Slovakia)  host  the  event  in  2013  in  its  reports  dated 
September and October 2008 respectively. Both Member States notified these nominations to 
the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Committee of the Regions by 
end 2008. 

The  European  Parliament  forwarded  its  favourable  opinion  to  Commissioner  Figel'  in  early 
March 2009.  

Consequently,  the  Commission,  in  accordance  with  Article  9.3  of  Decision  1622/2006/EC 
submits to the Council the appended recommendation for the official designation of Marseille 
and Košice respectively for the 2013 European Capital of Culture event. 

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OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p1 

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Recommendation for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

On the European Capital of Culture event for the year 2013 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  Decision  n°  1622/2006/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council 
establishing a Community action for the European Capital of Culture event for the years 2007 
to 20192,  

Having  regard  to  the  Selection  Panel  reports  of  September  and  October  2008  regarding  the 
selection process of the European Capitals of Culture in France and Slovakia respectively and 
the opinion issued by the European Parliament,  

Considering  that  the  criteria  referred  to  in  Article  4  of  Decision  1622/2006/EC  are  entirely 
fulfilled, 

Having regard to the recommendation from the Commission of the ----------------- 2009,  

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

Marseille  (France)  and  Košice  (Slovakia)  are  designated  as  “European  Capital  of  Culture 
2013”. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p1. 

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