European Parliament president wins #CharlesVEuropeanAward

On 4 April, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani (pictured) was announced as the winner of the twelfth edition of the Charles V European Award, according to the award panel: “For a political career spanning almost twenty-five years dedicated to the European Union and its institutions as guarantors of peace, democracy, human rights, equality, solidarity and the values they represent.”    

Tajani stressed that it was: "A great honour to receive the Charles V European Award. I dedicate it to European citizens, the real protagonists of the EU's efforts to achieve peace, freedom and prosperity. I will be in Yuste, Spain to receive the prize on 9 May.”

The jury said: "In the various positions that Antonio Tajani has held in the European Parliament and the European Commission, he has worked for a more competitive Europe that guarantees an effective model of sustainable, ecological and strategic growth. He has also fought terrorism to enable European citizens to live in greater security and to regain confidence in European institutions at a difficult time in the construction process, defending the legal framework of the European Union and rule of law as bulwarks against the continuing challenges that it faces.”

The European and Ibero-American Academy Foundation of Yuste received 41 proposals from 32 organisations in 8 European Union countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.  The prize-winner was nominated by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CEU-San Pablo University.

The award panel was made up of the President of the Regional Government of Extremadura and the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, Guillermo Fernández-Vara; the Vice-President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Pilar Blanco-Morales; the Ibero-American General Secretary, Rebeca Grynspan; the academic Carmen Iglesias; the President of the Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz; the academic Ursula Lehr; the President of the Assembly of Extremadura, Blanca Martín Delgado; the historian Manuela Mendonça; the rector of the University of Extremadura, Segundo Píriz; as well as Sofia Corradi, Jacques Delors and Marcelino Oreja, winners of the previous Charles V European Award.

Charles V European Award  

The 'Charles V European Award' was created to reward the work of those individuals, organisations, projects or initiatives which, through their efforts and dedication, have contributed to the general knowledge and enhancement of the cultural, social, scientific and historical values of Europe, as well as to the process of European construction and integration.

During the award ceremony, the Royal Monastery of Yuste brings together the most prestigious personalities at the European, national and regional level. The 'Charles V European Award' represents the spirit of building a united Europe.

This is the first edition that the European and Ibero-American Academy Foundation of Yuste has convened following the merger between the European Academy Foundation of Yuste and the Extremadura Centre for Studies and Cooperation with Ibero-America Foundation.

Previous winners include Jacques Delors, Wilfried Martens, Felipe González, Mikhail Gorbachev, Helmut Kohl, Simone Veil and José Manuel Barroso, among others.

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