Applying for the European Heritage Label

Timeline of the applications

The Finnish Heritage Agency will open a call for proposals in May 2024.

Webinar related to the selection on 20th May 2024 at 10-12am. Register to the event here.

3. Preproposals must arrive the Finnish Heritage Agency no later than June 12, 2024 at 4PM.

June: the steering group discusses the applications; feedback is given to all applicants by email.

15 August 2024: applicants have the option to send an improved application to the Finnish Heritage Agency. The steering group discusses the applications and the Agency makes a presentation about the best object with reasons to the Ministry of Education and Culture

September: the Ministry of Education and Culture makes a decision on the site, for which the communities will prepare an application to the European Commission.

September – November: participatory preparatory processes, webinars and workshops in which stakeholders are involved in the preparation of the application.

December: application for comments to the Finnish Heritage Agency, the steering group and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

January - February 2025: application refinement and translations

1^st March 2025 the latest, the Finnish Heritage Agency will send the application to the European Commission.

Step 1: Pre-selection at national level

Self-assessment form

Use this self-assessment form to test whether your site meets the criteria for the European Heritage Label and the resource requirements for the application. At the same time, you will receive information on what else to consider before participating in the selection.

Self-assessment form

Instructions for applicants

Familiarize yourself with the instructions for applicants by the Finnish Heritage Agency on the pre-selection in Finland in 2022. Questions related to the pre-selection can be found at the end of the document. You can answer in Finnish or Swedish. Send the answers to the questions as a word file to by June 17, 2024 to the Finnish Heritage Agency.

Instructions for EHL-selection 2024

The European Commission Guidelines

The European Commission's guide for applicants for the European Heritage Label provides more detailed guidance on what types of sites can be applied for and the criteria for evaluating them.

Application guide by the European Commission

Application forms

There are three forms to be sent to the European Commission. These forms are only required for applications sent to the Commission, not for the pre-selection. It is good to get to know them already at early stages.

1. Single site: a single site in a single Member State

2. National thematic site: several sub-sites located in the same Member State, all focused on one specific theme.

3. Transnational site: several sub-sites located in different Member States all focused on one specific theme.