Defination Of ECOC

The idea of having a European Capital of Culture was first put forward in 1985 when Melina Mercouri was Greek Minister for Culture. In the same year the European Union Council of Ministers determined the scope of the project and put it into implementation. Form 1985 to 2000 one city from the countries which were members of the European Union was selected each year as European Capital of Culture. To mark the start of the nwe millennium, from 2000 onwards the title of European Capital of Culture began to be given both to more than one city each year and to cities in countries which werecandidates for EU membership.