Winners to be announced in the European Parliament on 12 November

Brussels, 16 July 2009

Following the launch of the EurActiv Awards for Debating Europe Nationally in May, over 50 individuals, organisations and movements have already seen their contribution to debating European policies nominated.

Nominations, put forward in ten languages, range from artistic performances to former politicians and include the following: the environmental film “Home”, a platform for European journalists, individual EU affairs bloggers, a former Belgian prime minister, an Irish grassroots online debating forum, a Turkish association of women entrepreneurs, a Belarusian-European project team, and a foundation supporting French civil society.

All current nominations can be accessed at euractivawards09.blogactiv.eu/.

The Awards have also attracted their first sponsors: EURid and Coca-Cola. EURid is the European Registry of Internet Domain Names, which manages the Internet domain .eu (www.eurid.eu/).

EURid External Relations Manager Giovanni Seppia, said “.eu quite literally expands the horizons of any European interested in the world beyond their national borders. We look forward to the partnership with EurActiv to further increase .eu awareness via a truly European communication channel.”

EURid and Coca-Cola will sponsor the prestigious prize ceremony to be held at the European Parliament on November 12, 2009. The announcement of the winners will be followed by a high-level debate on EU priorities among political leaders and a networking reception. See programme at http://www.euractiv.com/29/images/10thanniversary_programme_tcm29-184196.pdf.

Pat Cox, former President of the European Parliament and of the European Movement International, a member of the Jury that will select the Awards winners, said: “Large scale national and local debate on European policies is still in its infancy. Meanwhile, a number of great initiatives to promote such debate exist across Europe. The EurActiv Awards will raise awareness of these actions and recognise the efforts made by individuals and organisations to get citizens involved in shaping of the future European Union.”

Further nominations for individuals, organisations or public bodies who have implemented ideas to debate, promote or question European policies or initiatives at national level can be put forward through the EurActiv Awards Blog EurActivAwards09.Blogactiv.eu in ten languages (Bulgarian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovakian and Turkish).

The deadline for nominations is September 15, 2009. The main objectives were set out in an earlier press release: www.euractiv.com/29/images/EurActiv%20Awards%20PRESS%20RELEASE_11052009_tc....

Media contacts:
Frédéric Simon, Editor - Tel. +32 2 788 36 78, editor2@euractiv.com
Rick Zedník, Deputy CEO - Tel. +32 2 226 58 12, deputyCEO@euractiv.com
Ross Melzer, Public Affairs Director - Tel. +32 2 226 58 17, publicaffairs@euractiv.com
Christophe Leclercq, Publisher - Tel. +32 2 226 58 13, publisher@euractiv.com