The European Commission’s Directorate General for Enlargement has announced the European Young Journalist Award. The competition will reward Europe‘s best young journalists, focusing on EU Enlargement, for the third year running.

The  European Young Journalist Award 2010 (EYJA) challenges journalists and journalism students, aged 17 – 35, to enlarge their vision. It is an opportunity to represent EU Enlargement from creative and thought-provoking angles.

The competition will run until 28 February 2010. Print, online and radio journalism, published between 1 October 2007 and 28 February 2010, can be submitted by citizens of one of the EU Member States, Candidate Countries,Potential Candidates or Iceland.

The 36 national winners will each be selected by official juries in each participating country. An international jury will then select the three best submissions in the following categories: "Most original", "Best research" and "Best journalistic style". Each of the three Special Prize winners will receive a cultural trip, to a European capital of their choice.

The winners of the EYJA 2010 will visit Istanbul in May 2010 for a cultural and historical trip. Istanbul, one of Europe’s Capitals of Culture for 2010, provides an ideal location for the winners to enlarge their vision through cross-cultural interaction. The trip will end with a conference where views will be exchanged with leading international analysts about European culture, identity and EU Enlargement.

This award for young European journalists complements other European initiatives to recognize the work of the media, such as the European Parliament Journalism Award, which awards journalists who have covered major issues related to the EU or which have helped to promote a better understanding of European institutions and / or its policies, or the Lorenzo Natali Award, rewards the journalists who write on topics relating to human rights, democracy and development.