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
European Youth Capital European Youth Capital The European Youth Capital (abbreviated EYC) is the title awarded to a European city for the period of one year, during which it is given the chance to showcase, through a multi-faceted programme, its youth-related cultural, social, political and economic life and development. The European Youth Capital is an initiative by the European Youth Forum, and the first capital was chosen in 2009. Since 2014, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is an official endorsing partner the European Youth Capital title. The current, capital for the 2018 calendar year is Cascais.