The European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) is pleased to announce that it will be managing and organising in 2011 – for the second time – the European Public Sector Award (EPSA). The EPSA 2011 edition will be officially launched on Monday 17 January 2011 in Brussels. 

The EPSA brings together the most innovative, efficient and best performers from the European public sector. Ten European countries, together with the European Commission, are officially supporting EPSA 2011. The award contest is open to all levels of Europe’s public administration. For this edition applicants can submit and thus showcase their innovative achievements in three thematic fields:
•    Theme 1: Smart Public Service Delivery in a Cold Economic Climate
•    Theme 2: Opening Up the Public Sector through Collaborative Government
•    Theme 3: Going Green: Concrete Solutions from the Public Sector
EPSA’s objective is to make valuable experiences transparent, available and usable. It aims to create a network of European public excellence and thus offers a learning platform for leading-edge public administration solutions.

Following the highly successful EPSA 2009, this year the EPSA team at EIPA aims to attract once again a large number of applications from all over Europe. The call for applications will also be opened on 17 January and online applications can be submitted until Friday 25 March 2011. Different pools of evaluators will then assess the applications and a high-level jury will decide on the final results. The prize winners will be awarded during an official ceremony that will take place on 15-17 November 2011 in Maastricht (NL), under the auspices of the Polish Presidency. 

The Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr Maroš Šefčovič, and EIPA’s Director-General, Professor Dr Marga Pröhl, look forward to officially inviting front-runners of public administrations to submit their achievements under the three themes addressed by the EPSA 2011 edition. More information can be found on the new EPSA website (www.epsa2011.eu).

Note for the editors & press invitation

Accredited press is invited to attend the official launch of the European Public Sector Award 2011 (EPSA 2011). Please register your participation, at the latest by 13 January, with Ms Joyce Groneschild. Registration is necessary in order to gain access to the building.

Date:    17 January 2011
Time:    09.00-12.30

Location: Brussels, Room Walter Hallstein of the EC Berlaymont Building

More information & accreditation:
Ms Joyce Groneschild, Marketing & Information Coordinator,
European Institute of Public Administration,
tel.: +31 (0) 43 3296357; email: j.groneschild@eipa.eu

Contact address EPSA team:
Mr Claude Rongione, Information Officer EPSA 2011
European Institute of Public Administration,
tel.: +31 (0) 43 3296278; email: epsa2011@eipa.eu
www.epsa2011.eu 

Official Partners EPSA 2011:

European Commission
Austria
Cyprus
Germany
Hungary
Italy    Luxembourg
The Netherlands
Poland
Spain
Switzerland

With the support of the City of Maastricht and the Province of Limburg.