2011-11-25

The European Charlemagne Youth Prize is awarded jointly and annually by the European Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen. The Prize is awarded to young  Europeans, who enable projects that facilitate the exchange of cultural experience and a better understanding of each other’s culture.

The president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek saluted this year’s winners on the 24th of November on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of The Prize. This year’s winners were Europe & Me, an online lifestyle magazine from the UK created by young Europeans for young Europeans,  the second prize went to Balkans beyond Borders 2010, a short film contest from Greece, while The Escena Erasmus Project, launched in 2009, a pioneering European project from Spain addressed mainly to Erasmus students, won the third prize.

The prize went to a Hungarian Foundation the very first time in 2008, namely to the Ferenc Rákóczi Foundation, as a result of its excellent community building work. The Foundation organizes cultural and public benefit type programmes every year for young people in Ucraine, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia, throughout a three week period, hence giving space to exemplary actions related to the European thought. During the last five years many spontaneous gatherings were held by the participants of the Rákóczi camp.

DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor supported their activities on several occasions.
The timeline and deadlines of the application process are as follows:

Launch of the competition and online application: 10 November 2011.
Application deadline: 23 January 2012.
Selection of the 27 projects by the national juries: by 05 March 2012.
Selection of the 3 winning projects by the European jury: by 05 April 2012.
Award ceremony in Aachen: 15 May 2012