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How can cities join European Capital of Democracy?

Is your city ready to become the next European Capital of Democracy?

Becoming European Capital of Democracy is a unique opportunity for cities with a population of over 100,000 inhabitants within the Council of Europe member states and Kosovo.

What are the benefits for your city?

  • International Reputation – gain an enhanced reputation as a centre of innovation
  • Host Impactful Events – host international events and meetings of top European leaders
  • Civic Pride – enjoy heightened civic pride and engagement

Pre-Register for ECoD 2027

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Learn more about the process

How are cities selected?

Based on transparent Evaluation Criteria (see below), interested cities put forward their applications in an annual Call. ECoD’s Experts’ Jury draws up a Shortlist of three outstanding contenders. The Citizens’ Jury, a network of over 4,500 engaged Europeans, will then select the next European Capital of Democracy.

What is your timeline for ECoD 2027?

1. APPLICATION ﹣ CITIES (Sep – Nov 2025)
  • a Technical, Organisational and Democratic Self-Evaluation
  • a Mission Statement
  • an Executive Summary
  • 3 flagship Democracy Projects and 3 future Project Ideas, which will form a part of the upcoming Democracy Year
2. ADMISSION ﹣ ECoD NPO (Nov 2025)

ECoD NPO screens the applications and documents for admissibility and completeness, including a check of the Prerequisites (see below), and informs Applicant Cities about their admission to the European City Network and about the next steps.

3. EVALUATION ﹣ EXPERTS’ JURY (Dec 2025 – Feb 2026)

The Experts’ Jury then evaluates all the applications, visits the most promising contenders, and draws up a shortlist of up to three contenders.

4. SELECTION ﹣ CITIZENS’ JURY (March 2026)

The Citizens’ Jury selects the European Capital of Democracy from the shortlist.

Where can I find the Call Document?

Yes, an updated Call Document will be published in summer 2026. In the meantime, you can review last year’s documents:

What do we mean by Democracy?

We take a broad view of democracy, and a “Democracy Project” is any initiative with encompasses one or more of the Dimensions of Democracy:

What are the prerequisites?

– Within the Council of Europe, plus Kosovo
– At least 100,000 inhabitants
– No municipal elections between March 2025 (winner’s announcement) and January 2026 (start of the programme year)
– Upholding democratic values of free, fair and regular elections of local government

Which Evaluation Criteria will be applied?

The Experts’ Jury assesses the Applicant City’s Mission Statement, Democracy Projects and Ideas, and the local context according to the following criteria:
Collaboration: Active partnerships with other organisations, institutions, and stakeholders
– Exchange: Communication, dissemination, and sharing of local initiatives
– Innovation: Ambition and appeal of the programme and its main activities
– Organisation: Management capacity, project and budget resources
Output: Planned activities and dissemination measures, and how effectively they will reach the target audiences, media and citizens.

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