“The Europe Prize reflects progress towards a strong and cohesive Europe for all citizens”, said Jean-Claude Frécon, in his capacity as President of the Congress and Vice-Chair of the Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize, at the inauguration of the exhibition on the 60th anniversary of the Europe Prize on Wednesday 21 October. “The history of the Europe Prize is recounted via this exhibition, which portrays a Europe in which citizens play their full part”, he added. This year, the Europe Prize was awarded jointly to two municipalities, Dresden in Germany and Vara in Sweden. The Europe Prize is the highest distinction awarded to European towns and cities. Jean-Claude Frécon also stressed the natural link between the Europe Prize and European Local Democracy Week, which was created by the Congress in 2007 and has been given particular prominence this year since the events held to mark the anniversary included a debate on “Living together in multicultural societies: respect, dialogue, interaction”, the theme chosen for ELDW 2015. “I strongly urge European municipalities to continue their European activities for citizens”, concluded Mr Frécon.
