We are participating in the competition for the title ‘European Capital of Culture' because we feel the need and desire to.

We see the opportunity to reveal Bordeaux to ourselves and to Europe at a time when the mutation of the city has changed the way that it is seen by its own inhabitants.

We see the chance in our candidacy to claim a better symbolic place in Europe due to a long history marked by Montaigne, Montesquieu and a strong presence of humanism and the Age of Enlightenment.

We are participating in the competition because we believe that the city's recent new motivation will be part of a long term process so much more than it will be based on a culturally intense project attaching great importance to contemporary cultural forms and promoting creativity.

We are participating in the competition because we are convinced that we are capable of gracing this title by proposing an attractive and federative programme to the whole European population.

We are participating in the competition because we see an opportunity to think of new complementary and solid relations between the city centre and its territory: the town, county, Aquitaine region and as far as with Spain.

On this basis Bordeaux was short-listed as a candidate last November. It is on this basis that we are working today on finalising the project which will be handed to the French and European jury on the 18^th August 2008.