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
Date: 2013-05-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Cyprus, Denmark, European cultural event, European symbol, Malta, capital city

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 2.5.2013  
COM(2013) 248 final 

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 

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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 

1 

OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p. 1. 

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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. 

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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 20192, 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. 

2 

OJ L 304 of 3.11.2006, p. 1. 

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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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