Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 151 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions^f1,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty^f2,

Whereas:

Decision No 1419/1999/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 establishing a Community action for the European Capital of Culture event for the years 2005 to 2019^f3 is geared towards highlighting the wealth, diversity and shared characteristics of European cultures and towards contributing to improving European citizens' mutual knowledge.

Annex I to Decision No 1419/1999/EC sets out the chronological order in accordance with which the Member States can submit nominations for this event. That Annex is limited to the Member States at the time the Decision was adopted on 25 May 1999.

Article 6 of Decision No 1419/1999/EC states that that decision may be revised, in particular with a view to the future enlargement of the European Union.

In the light of the 2004 enlargement, it is important that the new Member States should likewise be able within a short period of time to submit nominations in the context of the European Capital of Culture event, without changing the order for the other Member States so that, from 2009 onwards and until the end of the current Community action, two capitals may be selected each year in the Member States.

Decision No 1419/1999/EC should therefore be amended,

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: