Brussels, Dec. 11, 2024 (Lusa) - The European Commission will be meeting next week with the Ministry of Culture, the local authority and the organising structure of the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) Évora 2027, due to disagreements over the project, an EU source told Lusa on Wednesday.
"I can confirm that we have received a letter expressing concerns about Évora 2027 and that we are closely monitoring the latest developments in the project. The Commission will be meeting with the project organisers, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, the Évora municipality and the Évora 2027 structure next week," an official source from the EU government told Lusa.
The response to Lusa comes after seven directors of present and future European Capitals of Culture expressed concern to the EU government about the fact that the Évora CEC 2027 leadership team had left office just over two years before Évora became European Capital of Culture.
Confirming receipt of the letter, the European institution's official source explained that "the next steps" after the meeting are to send a "progress report to the Commission in April 2025".
Then, a panel of experts will have a follow-up meeting with [the organising structure of] Evora 2027 in May 2025 in order to assess the progress made in the preparation and provide guidance and support."
"The panel of experts will issue a second follow-up report no later than June 2025, i.e. 18 months before the title year," said the official European Commission source.
It is planned that, as approved last week, the president of the Évora_2027 Association, Maria do Céu Ramos, will be heard in the meantime on the organisation and planning of the Évora 2027 ECOC.
The hearing comes after Paula Mota Garcia, the coordinator of Évora's candidacy, resigned from her post in October because she considered that "the conditions were not met" to continue. She pointed to delays in setting up the CEC's managing association, which was only formalised in February 2024.
A few days after Paula Mota Garcia's resignation, the board of the Évora_27 management association took office. Legal expert Maria do Céu Ramos was chosen to chair it.
This change has raised concerns among the heads of seven other ECOCs - current and future - who have written a letter to the European Commission when a review of the current ECOC model, which ends in 2033, is underway.
Two years before Évora becomes European Capital of Culture, the public tender to choose the artistic and government directors has yet to be announced.
Last week, the president of CEC Évora_27"s managing association, Maria do Céu Ramos, repudiated what she described as acts that “seriously jeopardise the project”, reaffirming the “legality and legitimacy” of the new leaders" mandate.
ANE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
