Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Decision No 1622/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a Community action for the European Capital of Culture event for the years 2007 to 2019 (1), and in particular Article 9(3) thereof,

Having regard to the recommendation from the European Commission,

Having regard to the Selection Panel reports of February 2010 regarding the selection process of the European Capitals of Culture in Belgium,

Considering that the criteria referred to in Article 4 of Decision No 1622/2006/EC are entirely fulfilled,

Article 1

Mons is designated as ‘European Capital of Culture 2015’ in Belgium.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.