The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. A number of European cities have used the City of Culture year to transform their cultural base and, in doing so, the way in which they are viewed internationally.
In 1999, the European City of Culture was renamed the European Capital of Culture, and was financed through the Culture 2000 programme. Cork City, in Ireland, was the first city in Europe to hold the prestigious Capital of Culture title. The European Parliament and Council Decision of May 25, 1999 integrates this event into the Community framework and introduces a new selection procedure for the Capitals for the 2005?2019 period. This was done to avoid overly fierce competition to win the accolade; each EU member nation will be given the opportunity to "host" the capital in turn. Starting in 2005, two cities will now share this status each year.
Past European Capitals of Culture
1985: Athens (Greece)
1986: Florence (Italy)
1987: Amsterdam (Netherlands)
1988: West Berlin (West Germany)
1989: Paris (France)
1990: Glasgow (United Kingdom)
1991: Dublin (Ireland)
1992: Madrid (Spain)
1993: Antwerp (Belgium)
1994: Lisbon (Portugal)
1995: Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
1996: Copenhagen (Denmark)
1997: Thessaloniki (Greece)
1998: Stockholm (Sweden)
1999: Weimar (Germany)
2000: Reykjav?k (Iceland), Bergen (Norway), Helsinki (Finland), Brussels (Belgium), Prague (Czech Republic), Krakow (Poland), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Avignon (France), Bologna (Italy)
2001: Rotterdam (Netherlands), Porto (Portugal)
2002: Bruges (Belgium), Salamanca (Spain)
2003: Graz (Austria)
2004: Genoa (Italy), Lille (France)
2005: Cork (Ireland)
2006: Patras (Greece)
Current European Capitals of Culture
2007: Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and Greater Region ó Sibiu (Romania)
Future European Capitals of Culture
2008: Liverpool (United Kingdom) ó Stavanger (Norway)
2009: Linz (Austria) ó Vilnius (Lithuania)
2010: Essen (Germany) ó Pťcs (Hungary) ó Istanbul (Turkey)
2011: Turku (Finland) ó Tallinn (Estonia)
2012: Guimaraes (Portugal) ó Koper, Maribor, Celje or Ljubljana (Slovenia)
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