Culture spreads round the Union

Date: 12/12/1996

By Simon Coss

THE European Commission is considering whether to repeat the practice of sharing the European City of Culture title among several locations after the year 2000.

“At the beginning of the new century, we would like to change the style of the event,” said an aide

to Audio-visual Commissioner Marcelino Oreja, adding that the Commission could well suggest a new 'thematic' approach to the scheme.

“We want to move away from the classic definition of culture - such as films, dance and theatre - and encompass wider themes,” he said.

On this principle, cities representing the best examples of each of a wide range of themes could hold the title simultaneously.

It would thus be possible to have cities of architecture, environmental protection or even public transport all in force at the same time.

The move comes more than a year after culture ministers caused a stir by bowing to pressure and agreeing to award the title of 'European City of Culture for the year 2000' to nine applicants.

Four of them - Prague, Bergen in Norway, Reykjavik and Cracow - are not even in the Union, although Poland and the Czech Republic are both knocking at the door, giving a certain logic to their selection. However, Iceland has never seriously expressed an interest in joining and Norway delivered a resounding 'no' to membership at the end of 1994.

The other five cities are Avignon in France, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Brussels, Bologna in Italy and Helsinki.

The delicate issue of funding this multi-sited end-of-millennium party will be discussed at a meeting of EU culture ministers next Monday (16 December).

Officials in the Directorate-General for information, culture and audio-visual affairs (DGX) confirmed they were examining whether to continue the policy of choosing a number of locations, although they stressed that no formal proposals were on the table yet.

“We already have 15 member states and another 12 are hoping to join the Union. If we only have one City of Culture per year, it will take a very long time for everyone to have their turn,” said one cultural expert.

The challenge will be to decide exactly how many sites should be picked. The event is quite a money-spinner for the cities concerned, with a heightened profile across the Union and attendant increases in tourism revenue.

If too many sites are chosen, the financial spoils become too thinly spread. Too few, and the problem of long waiting times comes into play.

Sources indicate that a total of around three or four locations could be on the cards.

The Commission was originally scheduled to present a proposal to next week's ministerial meeting. But officials now say they will put forward their conclusions in the first half of next year, during the Netherlands' EU presidency.

The possibility of changing the way the scheme is financed has also been floated, with some suggesting a merger with the 1990 Kaleidoscope cultural programme. The European Parliament is understood to oppose this approach.

The Commission's move towards multiple sites appears to reflect a change of heart within its own ranks about the idea.

Speaking last October, shortly after the nine-city share-out was announced, one official said that having a number of competing cities would undermine the concept of the scheme.

The City of Culture programme was launched in 1983. Ministers wanted one city a year to act as the focus for the promotion of European cultural activities. In 1992, the programme was widened to allow non-EU countries which met appropriate standards of human rights and democracy to take part.

Copenhagen is the current Union City of Culture. Thessaloníki, Stockholm and Weimar will follow on in the countdown to the year 2000.