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 eachEuropean Union member state in 1991, when the Douzelage Charter was signed in Granville, in France.
Although the membership of the EU, and of the association, has grown, the name Douzelage has been kept unchanged.
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 3 years. The official language used is English, partially also French.
The Douzelage movement received European recognition in 1993 when it was honoured by the European Commission with the "Golden Stars of Twinning".
Members:
The original 12 founder members were:
- Altea, Spain
- Bad Kötzting, Germany
- Bellagio, Italy
- Bundoran, Ireland
- Granville, France
- Holstebro, Denmark
- Houffalize, Belgium
- Meerssen, the Netherlands
- Niederanven, Luxembourg
- Preveza, Greece
- Sesimbra, Portugal
- Sherborne, 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
- Koszeg, Hungary - 2004
- Sigulda, Latvia - 2004
- Sušice, Czech Republic - 2004
- Türi, Estonia - 2004
Since 2007, four further towns have joined the organisation:
- Zvolen, Slovakia - 2007
- Prienai, Lithuania - 2008
- Marsaskala, Malta - 2009
- Siret, Romania - 2010
Discussions regarding membership are in hand with three further towns:
- Agros in Cyprus
- Škofja Loka in Slovenia
- Tryavna in Bulgaria
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