Provisional Timeline – ECoC 2031
Monday 7 October 2024:
Publishing of call (October – December 2024)
Monday 7 October 2024:
Publishing of Rules of Procedure
Monday 28 October 2024:
Information session with presence of CION
Before Monday 14 April 2025:
Appointment of 2 national panel members who will join 10 experts appointed by the EU and bodies
Monday 25 August 2025:
Candidate cities to communicate in writing to the Managing Authority their intention to submit an application
Friday 26 September 2025:
Deadline of call
Friday 3 October 2025:
Managing Authority to reply to candidate cities to confirm receipt of applications
Monday 27 October 2025:
Publication of the names of all Panel’s experts one week prior to the pre-selection meeting in a press release or on the Managing Authority’s website
Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th November 2025:
Pre-Selection meeting in Valletta[1]
Wednesday 4th November 2025:
Press conference following pre-selection meeting during which the chairperson will disclose the list of recommended pre-selected cities
Tuesday 3rd December 2025:
Panel to send pre-selection report to CION and to the Managing Authority
September 2026:
Visit to pre-selected cities
September 2026:
Final selection meeting in Valletta followed by Press Event and Press Release to disclose the recommended city to be published on same day of meeting
November 2026 – January 2027:
Publishing final selection report on the website of the Managing Authority
November 2026 – January 2027:
Formal designation of the city
Early 2027:
Publication of the name of the designated cities by the CION
October – November 2027:
First monitoring meeting (to be managed by the CION)
June 2029:
Second monitoring meeting (to be managed by the CION)
October – November 2030:
Third monitoring meeting (to be managed by the CION)
* Subject to changes
[1] For the competitions in Member States, in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the Panel and facilitate the induction of the national experts, a briefing session (approximately 1 to 2 hours) and a working lunch/dinner will be organised between the European and national experts before the pre-selection meeting. This will serve as a valuable opportunity for the national experts to be briefed on the ECoC action and its criteria, as well as to learn from the experience of the European members. For the European members it will serve as an opportunity to learn about the national cultural context; the Managing Authority or the national members shall present to the whole Panel an overview of the outstanding features of the cultural life of the country.
