Uitreiking eerste journalistenprijs Europees Parlement op 17 oktober (en)

For the first time, the European Parliament will award its Prize for Journalism to journalists who contributed significantly to the better understanding of major European issues. The ceremony will take place on 17 October in Brussels. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism will be awarded for the first time this year, in four categories: written press, TV, online and radio. For each category, the winning contribution will be honoured with a prize of 5 000 euros.

The prizes will be awarded by EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering, at a ceremony to be held in Parliament's hemicycle in Brussels on Friday 17 October at 10am.

The ceremony will be followed (at 10.45am) by a panel discussion about the role of the media in providing better information for citizens on EU institutions and, in particular, on the European Parliament.

All 70 national winners, who are the candidates for the EU level prize, and the accredited press in Brussels, are invited to both the ceremony and the panel discussion.

Young journalists from across Europe taking part in the Youth Media Days will also attend the programme.

Press point and webstreaming

At 12.30pm a press point with the winners will be organised in front of the Vox Box (ASP building, 3rd floor).

The programme will be shown live on EP's website (see link below).

The Prize

The award is given to journalists who have made an "outstanding contribution to clarifying major issues at European level or have promoted a better understanding of the institutions or policy of the European Union".

Eligible contributions must have been published or disseminated between 1 May 2007 and 30 April 2008. During the summer, national winners were chosen by 27 national level juries formed by journalists.

The final winners were selected in Brussels by a jury composed of 3 Members of the European Parliament and journalists representing the press accredited to EU institutions.

All entries were evaluated according to the following criteria: "journalistic quality", "European relevance", and “contribution to the better understanding of EU and to the clarification of major European issues".