France/ Twenty years of twinning link Paimpol and Iceland: what is the point of this partnership between communes?

To mark the 20th anniversary of the twinning between Paimpol (Côtes-d'Armor) and Grundarfjörður, Iceland, we take a look at the role of these unusual partnerships between communes.

Towns can be twinned with several different communes (the only exception in France is Paris, which only took the twinning oath with Rome on January 30, 1956). This is the case for Paimpol (Côtes-d'Armor), which has chosen three - Romsey in England since 1959, Vermillion in the USA, since 1992, and the town of Grundarfjörður, since 2004. What does this mean in practical terms? What does it mean for the two towns?

TheAssociation française du conseil des communes et régions d'Europe (AFCCRE), which has been involved in twinning in France since 1951, defines twinning as "the meeting of two municipalities that intend to proclaim that they are joining forces to act in the interests of thecommunity. they are associating to act in a European perspective, to confront problems and to develop increasingly close ties of friendship between them ".

In France, a third of twinnings are with German towns

In other words, twinning is a way of cooperating in the fields of culture, heritage, tourism and education. As Ouest-France points out Ouest-France answers you in 2022, this can take the form of exchanges between secondary school students, to help them learn a foreign language, as well as sporting and cultural events...

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) writes in its guide : "Today, they enable citizens, and especially young people, to meet each other, forge lasting friendships and gain a better understanding of what they have in common.

While Paimpol has chosen to forge closer ties with Iceland, in France, a third of twinnings involve German communes. A choice made by Europe after the Second World War.

Source: /www.ouest-france.fr/