The selection panel appointed to assess the cities applying to be European Capital of Culture 2015 met today in Prague and recommended that Plzeň and Ostrava be preselected for the 2015 title.
The selection panel appointed to assess the cities applying to be European Capital of Culture 2015 met today in Prague and recommended that Plzeň and Ostrava be preselected for the 2015 title. Once this recommendation has been ratified by the Czech Republic, the preselected cities will have to flesh out and complete their applications by the summer of 2010.
In the words of Maroš Šefčovič, the Member of the European Commission responsible for education, training, culture and youth: ‘I would like to congratulate Plzeň and Ostrava on their nomination following the first round of the competition for the title of Capital of Culture 2015. This event provides an opportunity — which must be seized — for the long-term development of the cities concerned, not only in the cultural sphere, but also from the socio-economic and touristic points of view. The key to being designated remains the event’s European dimension and civic participation. I would encourage the three cities in contention to pursue their efforts in this direction .’
In accordance with the Decision on the European Capital of Culture event 1 , BELGIUM and the CZECH REPUBLIC are the two Member States entitled to host a European Capital of Culture in 2015. The Belgian city that has already been preselected is Mons.
The Czech Republic published a call for applications from cities interested in being designated at the end of 2008. Three cities applied: Plzeň , Ostrava and Hradec Králové.
Their applications were examined on the basis of the criteria established in the above-mentioned Decision by an international panel consisting of 13 members, six of them appointed by the Member State concerned and the other seven by the European institutions. The panel members appointed by the European institutions are:
Nominated by the European Commission: Sir Robert SCOTT , who led Liverpool’s application for designation as a European Capital of Culture 2008. An expert in the cultural field (especially the theatre), he is now the international ambassador of the Liverpool Culture Company ; Manfred GAULHOFER , who was the Director-General of Graz 2003 and has managed many European projects.
Nominated by the Council: Mary McCARTHY , who was the Deputy Director of Cork 2005. She is currently working at the Dublin Docklands Development Authority on one of the biggest urban regeneration projects in Europe; Mary MICHAILIDOU , former Director-General for Cultural Development at the Greek Ministry of Culture, who has also been a member of the boards of several Greek museums and cultural foundations.
Nominated by the European Parliament: Andreas WIESAND, consultant and researcher in the field of cultural policy and activities; Danuta GLONDYS , head of the Villa Decius association, which runs many activities in the field of international culture.
Appointed by the Committee of the Regions: Jyrki MYLLYVIRTA, who chairs the Commission for Culture and Education of the Committee of the Regions and is an elected local office-bearer in Finland.
According to the present procedure for designating the European Capitals of Culture, selection takes place in two stages: preselection, involving adoption of a restricted list of applications from cities, followed by final selection nine months later. The two cities selected are then officially designated by the EU Council of Ministers.
After Linz (Austria) and Vilnius (Lithuania) this year, the next European Capitals of Culture will be Essen (Germany), Pécs (Hungary) and Istanbul (Turkey) in 2010, Turku (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia) in 2011, Guimar ães (Portugal) and Maribor (Slovenia) in 2012, Marseille (France) and Ko šice (Slovakia) in 2013, and Umeå (Sweden) and Riga (Latvia) in 2014.