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Council of Europe European Diplomas: 18 municipalities on the 2010 honours list

Strasbourg, 23.06.2010 – The President of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Aleksei Lotman (Estonia, UEL), and the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize, Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD), today awarded mayors of 18 prize-winning municipalities with the European Diploma 2010, on the occasion of a ceremony attended by about 80 people.

MM Lotman and Fischer welcomed the enthusiasm shown by the European local authorities by taking part in the ceremony: 15 mayors from several European countries have travelled to Strasbourg. The Diploma not only acknowledges the work done at European level by the prize-winning municipalities, but also serves as an incentive to develop it further through contacts with twin towns and other European partners.

The prize-winners are:

France   Alfortville (Val-de-Marne)
   Arthez de Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
   Le Blanc (Indre)
   Marly-le-Roi (Yvelines)
   Sète (Hérault)
Georgia   Tbilisi
Germany  Linden (Hessen)
   Montabaur (Rhineland-Palatinate)
   Rehau (Bavaria)
   Steinheim am Albuch (Baden-Wurtemberg)
Italy   Arco (Province of Trento)
Poland   Barlinek (woj. Zachodniopomorskie)
   Gizycko (woj. Warminsko-Mazurskie)
   Goldap (woj. Warminsko-Mazurskie)
   Walcz (woj. Zachodniopomorskie)
Spain   Gijón (Asturias)
Ukraine   Lutsk (Volyn Oblast)
United Kingdom  Perth (Scotland)

The European Diploma was first presented by the Parliamentary Assembly in 1988. It rewards the efforts of municipalities which may then also be awarded the Flag of Honour, the Plaque of Honour and the Europe Prize (awarded in 2010 to the Ukrainian town of Kharkiv).