Marseille-Provence 2013 Capital of Culture in March 2004 and later expanded their bid to include neighboring cities in Provence. A French jury selected Marseille as its choice in September 2008. In May 2009, the European Council officially announced that Marseille would be the European Capital of Culture in 2013 in parallel with the city of Košice in Slovakia. In 2006, the official Marseille-Provence 2013 association was created under French laws for non-profit organizations. It brought together members of both the public and private sectors and was first directed by Bernard Latarjet and then Jean-François Chougnet. The association administrative council was led by
University Network of the European Capitals of Culture University Network of the European Capitals of Culture The University Network of the European Capitals of Culture(UNeECC), an international non-profit association, was founded upon the initiative of the University of Pécs in Pécs, Hungary in December 2006 by 15 founding members. UNeECC invites memberships in three different categories: The Secretariat of UNEECC is at the University of Pécs in Hungary. In 2007 the UNeECC GA and Conference was hosted by Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu. The Keynote Speaker of the Conference was Mr. Roger O’Keeffe Principal Administrator, from European Commission Directorate for Education and Culture. In 2008 the GA and