Double position
Douzelage is an association of one municipality from each country in the European Union . The name Douzelage is made up of douze ( French : twelve) and jumelage (French: town twinning). Although more than twelve cities and municipalities now belong to the Douzelage , the name is retained.
General
The goals of the association lie in the school, sporting and cultural exchange as well as in the promotion of the cooperation between the cities and communities. Twice a year there is a meeting of the members to initiate projects and to exchange ideas. English is mainly used for communication, and in some cases also French. Douzelage is headed by a president and two vice-presidents, each from a different location. This governing body is elected for a period of three years.
In 1993, the Douzelage was awarded the “Golden Stars of City Partnerships” by the European Commission as an outstanding partnership project.
Members
Douzelage was created in 1989 through the partnership between the cities of Sherborne ( Great Britain ) and Granville ( France ), in the context of the increasing town twinning within the EU. In the same year, European Charter - Villages of Europe, a group of rural communities from all EU countries, was founded. In 1991 , delegations from one of the twelve EU countries met in Granville to officially launch Douzelage.
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The founding members were:
Added later: |
In the course of the EU's eastward expansion, the following cities were accepted as members in a first step in 2004:
A second extension included:
Further members became |
Douzelage has 28 members. There was a change in Finland in 2016: Karkkila left the association and Asikkala became a new member.