Recommendation for a COUNCIL DECISION designating the European Capital of Culture for the year 2016 in Spain and Poland
Date: 2012-03-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European symbol, Poland, Spain, capital city, cultural event

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 29.3.2012  
COM(2012) 146 final 

Recommendation for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

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

 
 
  
 
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. 

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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 20192, 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. 

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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 

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