The European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2009 will be awarded in Aachen on May 19th The Prize is awarded to youth projects that encourage the development of a shared sense of European identity. The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, and the Chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, Michael Jansen, will participate in the ceremony.

The European Charlemagne Youth Prize, which this year is awarded for the second time, is jointly organised by the European Parliament and the Charlemagne Prize Foundation. Last year a Hungarian project, "Students without Borders", was awarded the first prize.

National juries consisting of at least two MEPs and one representative of a youth organisation have selected a national winner from each of the 27 Member States. In April, the European jury, consisting of three MEPs, the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, and four representatives of the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize, selected the three winners from the 27 projects.

The UK national winner of the Charlemagne Youth Prize for 2009 is the Talita Kum project, entered by Lewis Ross from Inverness. The other team members are Phi Macdonald, Mhairi McGowan, Kayleigh Berg, Daniel McWilliams, Fraser Kane and Sarah-Jane Savage - all from Millburn Academy.
 
This project, which has been going for six years, involves taking a group of senior school pupil volunteers from Millburn Academy in Inverness to the Jimbolia region of Romania. The object is to take children from some of the poorest families in Jimbolia for a two weeks summer holiday in a project organised with assistance from Romanian organisations and citizens. The camp offers a rare opportunity for the Romanian children to escape often difficult circumstances and to engage in entertainment and education, with the aim of helping them to reach their full potential.

European Charlemagne Youth Prize , President Pöttering's initiative for role models for young Europeans

In a speech delivered in the hemicycle in February 2007, the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, called for the creation of a European prize for young people. "We should pay tribute to the commitment of young people to the European idea", the President told the assembly. "High-ranking European awards have had such a positive effect on public awareness; it is time to create an award for the younger generation, for young Europeans who show particular dedication to the European ideal", he added.
 
The European Charlemagne Youth Prize is granted to projects undertaken by people between 16 and 30 years old, which should serve as role models for young people living in Europe and offer practical examples of Europeans living together as one community. Youth exchange programmes and Internet projects with a European dimension are amongst the projects selected.
 
The three winning projects will be awarded funding of €5,000, €3,000, and €2,000 respectively. They will also be invited to visit the European Parliament in the next months.