The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) aims at an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe and confers on the Union the task, inter alia, of contributing to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore. In this respect, the Union, where necessary, supports and supplements Member States’ action to improve the knowledge and dissemination of the culture and history of the European peoples.
(2)
A better understanding and appreciation, especially among young people, of their shared yet diverse heritage would help to strengthen the sense of belonging to the Union and reinforce intercultural dialogue. It is therefore important to promote greater access to cultural heritage and to enhance its European dimension.
(3)
The TFEU also establishes citizenship of the Union, which complements national citizenship of the respective Member States and is an important element in safeguarding and strengthening the process of European integration. For citizens to give their full support to European integration, greater emphasis should be placed on their common values, history and culture as key elements of their membership of a society founded on the principles of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights, cultural and linguistic diversity, tolerance and solidarity.
(4)
An intergovernmental European Heritage Label initiative (‘intergovernmental initiative’) was launched on 28 April 2006 in Granada, Spain.
(5)
On 20 November 2008, the Council adopted conclusions (3) aimed at transforming the intergovernmental initiative into a Union action (‘action’) by inviting the Commission to submit to it a proposal for the creation by the Union of a European Heritage Label (‘label’) and to specify the practical procedures for the implementation of the project.
(6)
The public consultation and the impact assessment carried out by the Commission confirmed the value of the intergovernmental initiative but indicated that it needed to be further developed to reach its full potential, and that the involvement of the Union could provide it with a clear added value and help it to take a qualitative step forward.
(7)
The label should benefit from the experience gained from the intergovernmental initiative.
(8)
The label should seek added value and complementarity with regard to other initiatives such as the Unesco World Heritage List, the Unesco Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the Council of Europe’s European Cultural Routes. Its added value should be based on the contribution made by the selected sites to European history and culture, including the building of the Union, on a clear educational dimension reaching out to citizens, especially young people, and on networking between the sites to share experiences and best practices. The main focus of the action should be on the promotion of and access to the sites as well as on the quality of the information and activities offered, as opposed to the preservation of the sites, which should be guaranteed by existing protection regimes.
(9)
In addition to strengthening European citizens’ sense of belonging to the Union and stimulating intercultural dialogue, the action could also contribute to enhancing the value and profile of cultural heritage, to increasing the role of heritage in the economic and sustainable development of regions, in particular through cultural tourism, to fostering synergies between cultural heritage and contemporary creation and creativity and, more generally, to promoting the democratic values and human rights that underpin European integration.
(10)
Those objectives are fully in line with the objectives set out in the Commission communication entitled ‘A European agenda for culture in a globalizing world’, which include the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue as well as of culture as a catalyst for creativity.
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It is crucial that the label be awarded on the basis of common, clear and transparent criteria and procedures, including during the first two selection years when transitional provisions should apply.
(12)
The procedure for the selection of sites under the action should be carried out in two stages. Sites should initially be pre-selected at national level. Whenever relevant, Member States could involve local and regional authorities. The selection should then take place at Union level. Each site awarded the label should be monitored in order to ensure continued compliance with the criteria as laid down for the label.
(13)
In the course of the first evaluation of the action, the widening of its geographical scope should be examined.
(14)
Where there is a clear thematic link between several sites located in one Member State, the action should allow for joint applications. Such joint applications should comprise a reasonable number of participating sites and demonstrate a European added value compared to individual applications in respect of the same sites.
(15)
Similarly, by reason of the transnational dimension of certain sites, the action should allow for joint applications both in the case of sites which are located in different Member States but focus on one specific theme and in the case of a site located on the territory of at least two Member States.
(16)
In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Decision and, in particular, the provisions concerning the designation of sites to be awarded the label, the withdrawal of the label and the formalisation of the renunciation of the label, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission.
(17)
The administrative arrangements for the label should be light and flexible, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.
(18)
Since the objectives of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States by reason of the need, in particular, for new common, clear and transparent criteria and procedures for the label, as well as for stronger coordination between the Member States, and can therefore be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,
