The AER Committee on Culture encourages the nomination of regional capitals in the new Member states as European Capital of Culture

Besançon, Franche-Comté (F), 15 September 2005

In view of the forthcoming selection of the European Capital of Culture (ECC initiative), the AER Committee on Culture, who held its plenary meeting in Besançon (Franche-Comté/F) on 15th September, calls upon the European Commission and the Member states to encourage the nomination in the new Member states of regional capitals as European Capitals of Culture.

The AER recommends “to increasingly consider the aspect of the balanced social and economic regional development during the decision making process and to take into account the modest financial resources of regional capitals in the new Member states’.

In recent years the regional and interregional character of the cities’ applications for the ECC initiative has become dominant. One of the reasons is that, in metropolises, the ECC year normally vanishes and the message of the event does not reach the targeted audience, as Robert Palmer’s report conducted by the EU in connection with Paris has shown. The nomination of stagnating or declining cities in the Europe’s regions can not only boost their economies but also present to the European audience the regional cultural diversity.

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