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The European Commission will meet next week with the Ministry of Culture, the municipality, and the organizing structure of the European Capital of Culture (ECC) Évora 2027, in light of disagreements in the project, a community source told Lusa today.
“I can confirm that we received a letter expressing concerns about Évora 2027 and that we are closely monitoring the latest developments of the project. The Commission will meet with the project organizers, the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, the Évora municipality, and the Évora 2027 structure next week,” an official source of the community executive told Lusa.
The response to the Lusa news agency comes after seven directors of European Capitals of Culture, present and future, expressed their concern to the community executive about the fact that the leadership team of Évora ECC 2027 stepped down just over two years before Évora becomes the European Capital of Culture.
Confirming the receipt of the letter, the official source of the European institution explained that “the next steps,” after the meeting, involve sending a “progress report to the Commission in April 2025.”
Then, “an expert panel will have a follow-up meeting with [the organizing structure of] Évora 2027 in May 2025 to assess the progress made in preparation and provide guidance and support.”
“The expert panel will issue a second follow-up report no later than June 2025, which is 18 months before the title year,” added the official source of the European Commission.
It is planned that, as approved last week, the president of the Évora_2027 Association, Maria do Céu Ramos, will be heard in the Portuguese parliament regarding the organization and planning of the ECC Évora 2027.
The hearing comes after the coordinator of Évora’s candidacy, Paula Mota Garcia, resigned in October, claiming that “the conditions were not met” to continue, pointing out delays in the establishment of the ECC managing association, formalized only in February 2024.
Days after Paula Mota Garcia’s resignation, the board of directors of the Évora_27 managing association took office, with jurist Maria do Céu Ramos being chosen to preside over it.
This change raised concerns among the leaders of seven other ECCs – current and future – who wrote a letter to the European Commission, at a time when a review of the current ECC model, which ends in 2033, is underway.
Two years before Évora becomes the European Capital of Culture, the public tender to select the artistic and executive directors has yet to be announced.
Last week, the president of the managing association of ECC Évora_27, Maria do Céu Ramos, condemned what she described as acts that “seriously damage the project,” reaffirming the “legality and legitimacy” of the new leaders’ mandate.
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