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HomeReport of the European Panel to the European Commission in application of Decision 1194/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 establishing a European Union action for the European heritage label
December 2021
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In 2021, the Decision No 1194/2011/EU establishing the European Heritage Label celebrates its tenth anniversary. The year of the third and the fourth COVID waves is not ideal for celebration, but the EHL proved its strength and resilience even in these hard times: the number of selected European Heritage Label sites increased by 25 percent reaching the impressive number of 60 sites and three member states – Bulgaria, Finland and Slovakia – could boast their first EHL sites. Thanks to the further increase in the number of EHL sites, the ensemble of the sites offers a more complete geographical and temporal cover of European territory and history. The original motto of the European Heritage Label Action, Europe starts here!, may be completed by the outcome of the current selection, with which the number of EHL sites reached a critical mass, with the delightful dictum that Europe is everywhere! It is equally present in capital cities and small towns, in the countryside and on the seashore, in the high mountains and even under water. In 2021, 15 states proposed new sites and twelve states could increase the number of their EHL sites. These twelve Member States are evenly situated in the territory of the EU: all the great European regions (Centre, East, North, South and West) have been assigned with new sites. The periodisation of the timeline of the EHL sites completed with the twelve new sites also demonstrate a more balanced distribution of the sites between the great periods of European history: the 60 sites manifest an even spread among the three principal periods: there are 19 premodern sites, 19 modern ones and 22 contemporary ones. As a consequence of the unusual increase of the premodern sites in 2021 (seven new sites out of twelve), even the sub-periods (ancient, medieval, premodern, 19th century, pre-WWII, post-WWII) are evenly represented among the EHL sites. This tendency suggests that the European citizens appropriate progressively their history through the complex and holistic definition of cultural heritage, which is reflected in the Decision No 1194/2011/EU and requires a reflective approach to it. The candidatures manifested that the European citizens are more and more attached to their cultural heritage and they are ready to interpret it from a European perspective. The stories of these sites invite people in Europe to critically reflect upon the past, show its significance in the present and envision a future they want to build. The European Heritage Label is a complex tool of the European Commission that shows what Europe means to all of us. Unity in diversity is perfectly illustrated by the European Heritage Label sites as they show the way Europe was shaped and the way the European Union was built. The selection for attributing the European Heritage Label is carried out in two stages. At the national level, each participating Member State pre-selects a maximum of two candidate sites per selection year. Out of these, the European Commission attributes the European Heritage Label to a maximum of one site per Member State, based upon the recommendations of a European Panel of independent experts. The three criteria laid down in Decision No 1194/2011/EU establishing the initiative, distinguish the Label from other cultural heritage initiatives. To be awarded the Label, sites must be of European significance, they must explain their European dimension to European audiences, and must have the operational capacity to do so. The twelve new sites, which are presented in the current Report, will join the Network of European Heritage Label sites, certainly enhance the diversity of the network and allow for new opportunities for cooperation among the labelled sites. This will benefit the European citizens. Following the tradition of the biannual reports of the EHL Expert Panel, the 2021 Report not only offers the evaluation of the candidate sites, but also a general evaluation of the first decade of the European Heritage Label Action in order to propose some suggestions and recommendations for the next one, which will definitely be decisive because of the challenges imposed by the increasing number of the sites, the growing acclaim of the EHL Action and the hopefully increasing coherence of the EHL Network. The final part of this Report contains the updated guidelines to prepare a robust EHL proposal and facts and figures about the EHL Action and the current sites. The guidelines are composed and regularly revised, because the Panel is dedicated to encourage more Members States and more communities to propose candidate sites, which are interpreted in compliance with the Decision No 1194/2011/EU and bring together the different levels of European identity building (European, national, regional and local) in a reflective and harmonious unity of diversity. The Panel thanks all the sites for making substantial efforts to bridge these levels and for sharing their European stories in order to provide eminent heritage experiences to all.
- Published:
- Corporate author(s): Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (European Commission)
- Personal author(s): Seng, Eva-Maria ; Sonkoly, Gábor
- Themes: Culture
- Subject: architectural heritage , cultural heritage , decision (EU) , EU action , European Council , European Parliament , historic site , history of Europe , report
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| ISSN 2529-3389 | ISBN 978-92-76-46483-9 | DOI 10.2766/981126 | Catalogue number NC-BF-21-001-EN-N |
- Released on EU publications website:
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