Charlemagne Youth Prize winners visit European Parliament

The winners of this year's Charlemagne Youth Prize were in the European Parliament 9 and 10 November to meet EP President Jerzy Buzek and present their projects to the Culture Committee.

This year's winner was UK entry "Europe and Me", an online lifestyle magazine by and for young Europeans. A short film from Greece - "Balkans Beyond Borders" - came second and third prize went to the Spanish theatrical venture "Escena Erasmus Project". The prizes were awarded in Aachen in May. During the ceremony Buzek commended the winning project as an extremely original one that shows the different aspects of what being European means.

The most European Brit

Mathew Shearman, who represented this year's winning project, joked, "I am probably the most European British person I know and now I have an award to prove it."

The "'Europe and Me' online lifestyle magazine looks at Europe as a state of mind not as a set of institutions. We have editors in seven countries and authors from all over Europe, all of whom are volunteers. Our aim in the long run is to become a learning platform for young journalists, where they can discover a new approach to cover European affairs," he said.

Learning about each other in the Balkans

"Balkans Beyond Borders" aims to foster cooperation between young people in the Balkans. "We live so close to each other, yet we know so little about each other," explained Konstantinos Ntantinos.

"This award recognizes our efforts and gives credibility to our project. I would encourage other young people that if they have a good idea they be dedicated and make it come true." 

Arts in the spotlight

The "Escena Erasmus Project" is a cultural exchange programme for Erasmus students. "The centre of our project is the University of Valencia, a very popular destination for Erasmus students. Each year more than 300 students want to take part in our theatre project. We have even won national theatre prizes with our performances," said José Daniel Tormo Martínez, representing the group in Brussels.

Charlemagne Youth Prize

The Charlemagne Youth Prize is jointly organised by the EP and the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation in Aachen, and is awarded to projects that encourage a shared sense of European identity and integration among young people.

The three winning projects receive prize money of €5000, €3000 and €2000 respectively.

The selection procedure for next year's prize has already been launched. Applicants have until 23 January 2012 to submit their projects. For details click on the Charlemagne Youth Prize website below.