Douzelage

Monument commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Douzelage on 3 September 2011 in Marsaskala, Malta.

The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union except the newest state, Croatia.^[1]

The name is a combination of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder members, one for each European Union member state in 1991, when the Douzelage Charter was signed in Granville, France.^[1]

Although the membership of the EU, and of the association, has grown, the name Douzelage has been kept unchanged.^[1]

Aims and organisation

The aims of the Douzelage are to promote and foster the spirit of Europe and to establish among others educational, economic, tourist, sporting and cultural links between the towns for the mutual benefit of the inhabitants thereof.

Douzelage is chaired by a president and two vice-presidents, all elected for a period of three years. The official language used is English, partially also French.^[1]

The Douzelage movement received European recognition in 1993 when it was honoured by the European Commission with the "Golden Stars of Twinning".^[1]

Members

The original 12 founding members were:

• Altea, Spain
• Bad Kötzting, Germany
• Bellagio, Italy
• Bundoran, Ireland
• Granville, France
• Holstebro, Denmark
• Houffalize, Belgium
• Meerssen, Netherlands
• Niederanven, Luxembourg
• Preveza, Greece
• Sesimbra, Portugal
• Sherborne, England, United Kingdom

Towns that joined later are:

• Karkkila, Finland (1997)
• Oxelösund, Sweden (1998)
• Judenburg, Austria (1999)

In a first step of further expansion, 5 new towns joined the Douzelage in harmony with the European enlargement process:

• Chojna, Poland (2004)
• Kőszeg, Hungary (2004)
• Sigulda, Latvia (2004)
• Sušice, Czech Republic (2004)
• Türi, Estonia (2004)

Since 2007, seven further towns have joined the organisation:

• Zvolen, Slovakia (2007)
• Prienai, Lithuania (2008)
• Marsaskala, Malta (2009)
• Siret, Romania (2010)
• Agros, Cyprus (2011)
• Škofja Loka, Slovenia (2011)
• Tryavna, Bulgaria (2011)

Croatia joined the European Union in 2013, but no Croatian town has joined the Douzelage as of yet.

External links

• Douzelage homepage

References

Notes

European Union: Members of the town twinning "Douzelage" Altea Bad Kötzting Bellagio Bundoran Chojna Granville Holstebro Houffalize Judenburg Karkkila Kőszeg Marsaskala Meerssen Niederanven Oxelösund Preveza Prienai Sesimbra Sherborne Sigulda Siret Sušice Türi Zvolen