Proposals for the 1990 Europe Prize, Plaque of Honour, European Diploma and Flag of Honour
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*** 4-1 * * COUNCIL ** ** CONSEIL OF EUROPE * * * DE L'EUROPE Parliamentary Assembly Assemblee parlernentaire PACEC6M078809 Strasbourg, 23 February 1990 CONFIDENTIAL AS/Loc (41) 31 COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, REGIONAL PLANNING AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES Proposals for the 1990 Europe Prize, Plaque of Honour, European Diploma and Flag of Honour Secretariat memorandum prepared by the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly - 2 - I. 1990 EUROPE PRIZE AND PLAQUES OF HONOUR Although interest in the Flag of Honour remains as great as ever, the Secretariat received fewer candidatures for the Plaque of Honour and the Europe Prize this year, with the exception of the Federal Republic of Germany. Some 80 municipalities submitted reports on their European activities in 1989. The Secretariat attempted to select towns which had already been attributed the Flag of Honour a considerable time ago, and whose commitment to the European ideal, through contacts and exchanges, has not faltered but has rather been intensified. Once again, it was difficult to choose among the many proposals from Germany, priority being given to those municipalities which received the Flag of Honour longest ago. The Secretariat selected 14 candidatures, one of which should be chosen for the Prize and others for the Plaque of Honour. They are as follows: - Linz (Austria) - Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) - Livry-Gargan (France) - Plouguerneau (France) - District of Bad Godesberg (Bonn) (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Hanau (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Kirchheim-unter-Teck (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Menden (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Mulheim an der Ruhr (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Miinster (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Wetzlar (Fed. Rep. Germany) - Adria (Italy) - Alkmaar (Netherlands) - Bursa (Turkey) - 3 - 1. LINZ (Austria) The concept of European unity and brotherhood has been strong for many years in Linz, and has never ceased to be expressed in both words and action. Striking evidence of this is provided by its many twinning associations: not only with towns belonging to member States of the Council of Europe - Le Havre (F), Linz/Rhein (D), Berlin-Chariottenburg (D), The Hague (NL) and Southampton (GB) - but also with towns in the countries of Eastern Euope - Halle an der Saale (DDR), Saporoshje (USSR), Budweis (CSR), Rijeka (YU) and Kattowitz (PL) and as far away as China, with Chengdu, Nicaragua with San Carlos, the USA with Kansas City and Egypt with Gizeh. It would be difficult to list all the various exchanges which Linz practises with its twin towns, covering many fields. The Secretariat intends only to mention a few of the most noteworthy: The annual "International Youth Exchanges" represent a major effort to foster understanding between peoples and the establishment of friendly relations betveen the young people of different European countries. These exchanges have taken place since 1960 and are particularly well-developed with Southampton, Le Havre, The Hague and Berlin-Charlottenberg. A large number of university teachers and researchers also take part in inter-university exchange programmes. Mention should be made at this point of the especially intense activity carried out by the Johannes-Kepler university of Linz which has entered into a twinning agreement with the universities of Halle-Wittenberg (DDR), Strasbourg, Paris IV and Fribourg in Switzerland. Linz has also established a wide range of cultural contacts with other countries : it hosts; many foreign exhibitions (Danish and Hungarian weeks, exhibitions of children's art from other countries); it has for the last 10 yeetrs been organising an annual international competition entitled "Pri>: Ars Electronica" bringing together artists from some 30 countries anc! which is seen as an international forum for art and technology; and ea.ch year up to 100,000 people attend the open-air concerts during the "Linzer Klangwolke", to mention only a few of its cultural events. A number of private associations, including the "Friends of Old Linz", the Austro-Italian and Austro-German associations encourage the study of languages and foster human contacts between individuals from these countries. There is also a highly successful radio programme which contributes to better neighbourly understanding : jointly arranged with Belgian, Dutch and German radio, it accompanies a family visiting a foreign country. In brief, Linz may be considered as lending solid support to the ideal of European union. The attribution of the Flag of Honour in 1972 represented an initial acknowledgement by the Parliamentary Assembly of its merit. The award of the Plaque of Honour would be a second such acknowledgement and would certainly lend additional impetus to the ceremonies celebrating the 500th anniversary of the city of Linz in 1990. - A - 2. SINT-NIKLAAS (Belgium) Very few Belgian towns demonstrated any interest in receiving an award by sending us a summary of their European activities in 1989. Sin.t-Nik.laas, which received the Flag of Honour in 1966, reapplied after several years without news. This renewed interest might perhaps be due to the fact that it is twinned with Lucca (I), which was awarded the 1989 Europe Prize, Located in Eastern Flanders, this industrial and commercial town of 68,000 inhabitants, one of the largest in Belgium, is twinned with 5 European towns, 3 of which have been awarded the Flag of Honour and one the Europe Prize (Lucca): Abingdon (GB), Colmar (F), Schongau (D) and Gorinchem (NL). Contacts have also been made with a view to establishing a twinning arrangement with Hulst (NL) and Brest (USSR), initial exchanges being of a sporting and cultural character. School exchanges, particularly between technical schools, annual youth exchanges with each of the twin towns and cultural, musical and sports exchanges are a regular feature on Sint-Niklaas' programme of European activities, with the 1990 provisional programme including a wide range of encounters. Together with its twin towns, Sint-Niklaas has decided to fund a Third World aid project. Two years ago, the town of Gourcy in Burkina Faso was selected, aid being concentrated on the improvement of the family situation of women and the drilling of wells. An aid programme has also been launched in Senegal, concerning irrigation. - 5 - 3. LIVRY-GARGAN (France) Despite its relatively small size (36,000 inhabitants), Livry-Gargan (Seine-Saint-Denis) has no fewer than four twin towns (Fiirstenfeldbruck in the Federal Republic of Germany, Cerveteri in Italy, Haringey in England and Almunecar in Spain), two of these twinnings dating back more than ten years. Exchanges cover sport, music and education and are particularly well developed at family level. They are aimed at young people as well as old; public services (police, finance, post office, fire brigade, Red Cross, etc.) as well as private associations (the "Friends of Haringey" group, ex-servicemen and ex-prisoners of war, etc.). Livry-Gargan was awarded the Flag of Honour of the Council of Europe in 1981. The twin towns also meet to exchange experience in economic matters (exhibition at the Paris Food Fair) or take part in international events (conference on water supplies at Abidjan). Technical co-operation with two of the twin municipalities (Almunecar and Fiirstenfeldbruck) led to Livry-Gargan being awarded the Europe Prize of the CEMR (Council of European municipalities and regions) and the Gold Star for European Initiative in 1988. In its efforts to facilitate the integration of foreigners and foster contacts between young people, the municipality has set up two reception centres for foreigners, which can accommodate 30 young people or adults, as well as a Municipal Centre for Youth, Culture and Leisure. Livry-Gargan is thus a good example of a small municipality's dynamism which does not stop at the frontiers of Europe since it has also led to the creation of ties of friendship with a town in Quebec and with two schools, one in Louisiana and the other in the province of Ontario. - 6 - 4. PLOUGUERNEAU (France) The Breton municipality of Plouguerneau has been twinned since 1967 with Neckarhausen (Baden-Uiirttemberg, FRG). Following an amalgamation, Neckerhausen became in 1975 Edingen-Neckarhausen and the links between Plouguerneau and Neckarhausen were transferred to the new municipality in 1977. A very large number of meetings have taken place during this twinning over a period of twenty years as shown by the various volumes of the "Story of the Plouguerneau-Edingen Neckarhausen twinning" published by the town hall of Plouguerneau, the organisation of youth meetings having been one of the pillars of the twinning arrangement from the beginning. Two recent examples should be mentioned : the celebrations of the XXth anniversary of the twinning in 1987 and 1988 provided an opportunity for 362 Germans and 352 French to visit their twin towns. This twinning has often been described as exemplary by the press (in 1979 the French television channel FR3 broadcast a programme called "Europe from Plouguerneau to Neckarhausen") : however, it has never been restricted to an elite, far from it. The very close links between the authorities of the two towns have certainly enabled the maximum number of people to participate in the various encounters, while the work of the twinning committee deserves to be underlined. Moreover, the Council of Europe recognised Edingen-Neckarhausen's merit by awarding it the Flag of Honour in 1980. Plouguerneau received the same honour in 1981. The award of the Plaque of Honour would undoubtedly give new encouragement to its work for the construction of Europe. - 7 - 5. District of BAD GODESBERG (city of Bonn) (FRG) In 1969 the Flag of Honour was attributed to the town of Bad Godesberg which has, as the district of Bad Godesberg absorbed into in the city of Bonn, been applying for the Europe Prize since 1984. This well-established residential area on the outskirts of the federal capital has 68,000 inhabitants and has established excellent twinning arrangements with 5 towns: Frascati (I) in 1957, Saint-Cloud (F) also in 1957, Windsor-Maidenhead (GB) in 1960, Courtrai (B) in 1964 and Berlin-Steglitz (D) in 1962.