GENERAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS AWARDED THE EUROPE PRIZE
AARHUS/DENMARK, May 21st - 22nd 2004.

On May 21st - 22nd the General Meeting of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize was held in Aarhus/ Denmark. As it had been done every year so far, the Meeting was accompanied by the Youth Conference and Forum on the subject : "Responsibility for Europe - our Concern".

The Council of Europe was represented at the Meeting by Ms Johanna Schicker, Chairperson of the Prize of Europe Sub-committee. The Meeting was also attended by Mayors and their representatives from Aarhus and Aalborg/Denmark, Braunfels, Berlin-Neuköln, Regensburg, Tübingen, Schwarzenbek / Germany, Graz and Klagenfurt /Austria, Częstochowa and Gdynia / Poland, Klaipeda / Lithuania, Cockermouth / Great Britain, Santiago de Compostela / Spain.

At first, the delegates assembled in the beautiful conference hall of the Aarhus Town Hall were greeted by Ms Louise Gade, Mayor of Aarhus, who thanked them for the choice of Aarhus to host this year`s General Meeting of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize and went on to present the attractions of Aarhus.

The Meeting was officially opened by Mr Tadeusz Wrona, Chairman of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize. In his address the Chairman thanked for the trust given to Częstochowa by his appointment four years ago to preside over the Association. Mr Wrona pointed out to new opportunities for co-operation within the extended European family of States.

Then Ms Johanna Schicker, Chairperson of the Prize of Europe Sub-committee, addressed the Assembly, presenting some information about this year`s Prize of Europe Winner: the Belgian town of Oudenaarde, situated 50 km west of Brussels with the population of ca. 30,000. In 1991 Oudenaarde had been granted the Honorary Flag and in 1994 the Honorary Plaque of Europe. The town actively co-operates under partner town`s agreements with Coburg (Germany), Castel Madama (Italy), Bergen op Zoom (Holland), Arras (France), Hastings (Great Britain) and Buzau (Romania). Oudenaarde is the fifth Belgian town awarded the Prize of Europe. Ms Schicker informed the Meeting that this year 9 Honorary Plaques of Europe, 26 Honorary Flags of Europe and 28 Honorary Diplomas of Europe have been awarded.

Mr Hasso Hohmann, ISG Graz, presented briefly the history of the Association. The idea of uniting the towns awarded the Europe Prize by forming their association was proposed by Dr J. Karasek, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Dr R. Zilli of the European Parliament in Luxembourg and Dr H. Pammer, former councillor of Graz. The first version of the Statutes of the Association was prepared in Graz in 1982 by Dr J. Kasper and Mr H. Hohmann. The first Chairman of the Association was Mr Angelo Candolini, syndic of Udine. The following Chairmen were: Alfred Stingl, Mayor of Graz, Günther Metzger, Mayor of Darmstadt, Guy Ravier, Mayor of Avignon, Kaj Kjaer, Mayor of Aalborg, Dieter Schmidt, Mayor of Braunfels, Wiesław Maras, Mayor of Częstochowa and Tadeusz Wrona, Mayor of Częstochowa. Mr H. Hohman presented also some information about the General Meetings of the Association, organized so far and the accompanying youth conferences and forums.

Mr Tadeusz Wrona, Chairman of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Prize presented a report of the 4-year period of Częstochowa chairmanship of the Association:

I. In the years 2000 - 2004 the City of Częstochowa chaired:

Presidium Meetings of the Association held in Royal Leamington Spa/ Great Britain, Klagenfurt/Austria, Częstochowa/Poland and Nancy/France. General Meetings of the Association of Towns Awarded the Europe Price in Regensburg/ Germany, Bursa/Turkey, St. Pölten/Austria and Aarhus/Denmark.

II. The following thematic conferences were organized:

- "Culture in European Towns - Heritage and Responsibility", Regensburg,
- "Tourism and Safety in Historical European Towns", Bursa,
- "Contribution of Local Governments to Preparation of Young People for Their Responsibilities in the New Europe", St. Pölten,
- "Responsibility for Europe - our Concern", Aarhus.


III. The following youth forums were organized:

- "Current Cultural Development of Youth - Visions of Youth Culture"
- "Educational and Job Opportunities for Young People in Europe"
- "Opportunities of Young People`s Participation in Decision Making in Europe"
- "Responsibility for Europe - our Concern"


IV. Chairman of the Association represented all the Prize of Europe Winning Towns at:

- the ceremony of the Prize of Europe 2001 award to the Austrian town of St. Pölten,
- the ceremony of the Prize of Europe 2002 award to the Polish town of Gdynia,
- the ceremony of the Prize of Europe 2003 award to the Lithuanian town of Klaipeda.


V. The Association website was created, its current address being: www.czestochowa.um.gov.pl/europeprize or www.coe.int

VI. The Prize of Europe questionnaire was placed on the website of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly www.coe.int

VII. A CD was released with the presentation of towns: Cockermouth, Częstochowa, Darmstadt, Klagenfurt, Mülheim, Regensburg, St. Pölten and Speyer

VIII. A CD with recipes of regional dishes (40 recipes) was released.

IX. The following towns joined the activities of the Association activities: Nancy, Tübingen, Berlin-Neuköln, Santiago de Compostela, Aarhus and Schwarzenbek.

Publication of a coloured brochure promoting the Prize of Europe winning towns and possible registration of the Association are the matters which should be further pursued.

At the General Meeting new authorities of the Association were elected. Ms Brigitte Russ-Scherer, Mayor of Tübingen/Gemany was elected Chairperson. The following towns were elected to the Presidium: Braunfels, Częstochowa, Tübingen, Santiago de Compostela, Graz and Klaipeda. It was agreed that the next working Meeting of the Presidium would be held in Santiago de Compostela on October 8th - 9th.

Finally, representatives of Cockermouth, Graz, Klagenfurt, Regensburg, Berlin-Neuköln, Klaipeda, Gdynia, Tübingen and Częstochowa informed the meeting about the most interesting youth forums and the most important European events which took place in those towns in the European Week.