HUNGARY SCOOPS FIRST CHARLEMAGNE YOUTH PRIZE

Hungary's Ferenc Rákóczi II Foundation has won the first ever Charlemagne Youth Prize for its "Students without Boundaries" project. It was one of three prizes awarded on 29 April to projects which were judged to have fostered a shared sense of European identity and cultural exchange. Second place went to the projects in the UK and Greece. Parliament's President Hans-Gert Pöttering and André Leysen, Chair of the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, presented the prizes.                                                                                                                                                                            

"The Students without Boundaries" event takes place every year in Hungary and brings together over 130 students from Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and Serbia. During their time there they discuss education in Europe as well as cultural issues. The prize ceremony took place at the University of Aachen in Germany and all three winners will be invited to the European Parliament in June.

Speaking at the ceremony Hans-Gert Pöttering said that he was "so glad see here all these young people from all parts of Europe presenting their ideas and projects full of a European 'feeling of belonging'. That there are more than 400 projects testifies once more that 'the flame of the idea' of the European Union still burns!" he said. Martin Schulz - President of the PSE Group - was also present to award one of the prizes.

About 400 projects entered the competition which is organised by the Parliament and the Charlemagne Foundation. The winners receive €5,000, €3,000 and €2,000, respectively.

The three best projects were selected in two steps: firstly by national juries and one representative of a youth organization, then by a European jury consisting of three MEPs, the President of the EP and four representatives of the Foundation.

On 1 May, the International Charlemagne Prize will also be awarded in Aachen. This year's recipient is the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Charlemagne Prize, one of the most prestigious European prizes, is awarded for outstanding contributions to the cause of European unification.