European Heritage Label

The European Heritage Label started as an intergovernmental initiative between 17 individual EU member states during a meeting in Granada, Spain on 28 April 2006.

[1] Motivations for creating the initiative included the 2005 referendums in France and the Netherlands, which resulted in the two countries not ratifying a constitution for Europe.

[3] The participating countries’ heritage agencies awarded the Label to sites with cross-border or pan-European character.

Candidate sites for the label must have a symbolic European value and must have played a significant role in the history and culture of Europe and/or the building of the Union.

The panel examines the applications and recommends to the European Commission which sites should be awarded the label on the basis of an established set of criteria.