General Assembly & Youth Meeting 2012
17. January 2012
2012 General Assembly and the Youth Meeting of the Towns Awarded the Europe Prize will be held in 21 – 24 June 2012 in Czestochowa, POLAND.
June 21st - Arrival of Delegations
It is planned to create a common orchestra, composed of musically gifted young people from member cities. The orchestra will be coordinated by Music School of Czestchowa and cost of staying of young musicians(accommodation, meals and local transportation) will covered by the city of Czestochowa.
15. November 2011
Landerneau (France) and Hünfeld (Germany) win 2011 Europe Prize
Strasbourg, 14.04.2011
The 2011 Europe Prize has been awarded jointly to the towns of Landerneau (France) and Hünfeld (Germany). This decision was taken unanimously by the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) at its April plenary session in Strasbourg.
Already winners of the European Diploma, the Flag of Honour and the Plaque of Honour of the Council of Europe, both towns have been twinned for more than forty years and have developed links between people from all levels of society. While Landerneau is also twinned with Caernarfon (Wales) and has friendship links with Mioveni (Romania), Hünfeld has developed an active twinning with Proszkow (Poland), Steinberg in Vogtland (Germany) and has friendship links with Geisa in Thuringia (Germany).
Through this choice, the committee also wanted to show that even small local authorities could aspire to this distinction, which was awarded to Kharkiv (Ukraine) in 2010 and Ankara (Turkey) in 2009. It is the second time that the Europe Prize is awarded to two twinned municipalities. In 2000, Cockermouth (United Kingdom) and Marvejols (France) were jointly awarded this prize.
Created by PACE in 1955, the Europe Prize is the highest distinction that can be bestowed on a European town for its actions in the European domain. The prize consists of a trophy, a medal, a diploma and a scholarship to be spent on a study visit within Europe for young people from the winning town.
Mayor of Ankara elected President of the Association
18. May 2011
During the last General Assembly of the Towns Awarded the Europe Prize in Ankara/Turkey (May 5th-May 8th) the Mayor of Ankara Melih GÖKCEK was unanimously elected President of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize. The members of the Association adopted the “Ankara Declaration” about social cohesion.
2. September 2010
During the General Assembly of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize, 14 young people from Germany, Poland, England and Turkey met to take part in a song and dance work shop. Under the professional leadership of Suppi Huhn the song “European Soul” was created with parts of the text in English, German, Polish and Turkish. For the presentation of the song in front of the delegates taking part in the General Assembly, the young people even created a dance routine.
Download the song here
01-_-european-soul-manythanks_mix1.mp3
14. July 2010
Kharkiv wins the 2010 Europe Prize
Strasbourg, 29.04.2010 – The 2010 Europe Prize has been awarded to the Ukrainian town of Kharkiv. The decision was taken unanimously by the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) meeting today in Strasbourg.
Kharkiv, which was already awarded the European Diploma in 2003, Flag of Honour in 2004 and the Plaque of Honour in 2008, is the first Ukrainian town to receive this award.
As a major cultural, scientific, educational and industrial centre of Ukraine, Kharkiv has developed a very dense network of international contacts through its sixteen twinnings in the world including former winners of the Europe Prize such as Bologna in Italy and Nuremberg in Germany. A large number of delegations meet every year, thus offering the possibility to co-operate as well with East European as with West European countries. International events like the Kharkiv civic festival, the international junior football tournament and the competitive ballroom dancing festival attract every year numerous participants from the twin-towns.