Promotion and reinforcement of the European identity as essential cultural element for the integration of the continent: that’s the theme chosen by the Economic and Social Committee of the European Union (CESE) for the first award of a Prize aimed at organizations of civil society capable of “raising the awareness of citizens about the roots, values and objectives shared by all the peoples united under the emblem of European integration”. The annual Prize will have a value of 20,000 euros: details of the procedure for participation and adjudication will be published shortly on the website of the CESE a target=’_blanck’ href=http://www.esc.eu.int/press/index_en.asphttp://www.esc.eu.int/press/index_en.asp Presenting the new award to the press, the chairwoman of the Committee Mrs Sigmund declared that the Prize could “encourage contributions of an intellectual type to foster greater awareness of the role of organized civil society in the process of European integration and consequently reinforce civil dialogue, giving form to the emerging concept of participative democracy”.
