29th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 20-22 October 2015)

Speech by Jean-Claude Frécon, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Presentation of the exhibition on the 60th anniversary of the Europe Prize, Main Hall, Palais de l’Europe

Strasbourg, 21 October 2015

Check against delivery

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured and delighted to present today the exhibition on the Europe Prize, which was inaugurated on the 60th anniversary of the Prize on 22 June last.

I should like to begin by thanking you all for being here and expressing my sincere gratitude to the Parliamentary Assembly’s Europe Prize section secretariat for organising the exhibition.

I think it is important to underline that the Europe Prize is the highest European award for European towns and cities.  Its purpose was and is to encourage and reward municipalities which are particularly active in promoting the European ideal, for instance in terms of organising European activities and twinnings.

To win the Europe Prize, three prior steps are necessary: each town must apply for and be awarded in succession the European Diploma, the Flag of Honour and the Plaque of Honour.  These three steps enable the towns to gain European recognition, promote their European activities and encourage their citizens to become more involved in furthering the European ideal.  The towns can then apply for the Europe Prize, which is the final stage.

The Europe Prize was established by the Parliamentary Assembly in 1955, shortly after the Council of Europe was set up, at a time when the goal of pacifying Europe and uniting its peoples was everyone’s shared desire.

That is why the Europe Prize is so important, as it reflects a long period of European construction, our history and progress towards a strong and solidarity-based Europe: a Europe for all citizens.

Its success is therefore undeniable and entirely justified: since its inception in 1955, the Europe Prize has been awarded to 75 municipalities.  This year, it went jointly to the towns of Dresden in Germany and Vara in Sweden.

In my capacity as President of the Congress, I should also like to stress the natural link that exists between the Europe Prize and European Local Democracy Week established by the Congress in 2007, both being pan-European initiatives designed to foster the values of peace and co-operation between the peoples in Europe.

This link was highlighted particularly this year, as the debate held at the Europe Prize presentation ceremony was on “Living together in multicultural societies: respect, dialogue, interaction”, the title of ELDW 2015.

Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

It is therefore as President of the Congress and Vice-Chair of the Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize that I am addressing you today.

Through this exhibition, we wanted to retrace the history of the Europe Prize and represent today’s Europe: a Europe where citizens are the focus of towns and cities, a Europe where, more than ever before, citizens have a full part to play in helping to improve our towns and cities.

Staging this exhibition enables towns to publicise the Europe Prize and its history, while reminding every citizen that he or she has a vital part to play in 21st-century Europe.

I therefore urge you, dear colleagues, to publicise the Europe Prize in your towns and regions so as to give rise to new initiatives.  To that end, you can contact the Europe Prize section secretariat, who are here with us, as the exhibition is available in several languages: English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian.

I therefore strongly urge European municipalities to continue their European activities for citizens and to continue being examples working for unity between peoples, through open-mindedness and respect for others.

Long live the Europe Prize!

Thank you for your attention.