The German Chancellor Angela Merkel won the Charles The Great 2008 Award. The award is given every year to people who have significantly contributed to the cause of continental unification. Dedicated to the founder of the Holy Roman Empire, who lived and was buried in Aachen, the award was given in the past to many "pro-European" personalities, such as Pope John Paul II, Jean Monnet, Konrad Adenauer, Alcide De Gasperi, Robert Schuman, Jacques Delors, Simon Veil, Francois Mitterrand, Helmut Kohl. The awards ceremony due to take place on May 1st in the city hall of the German town will be opened on April 29th by the "Charles The Great for the Young" awards ceremony. In its first year, this award "funds projects that promote a shared view of European identity and integration". According to a note from the EU Parliament, "the three winning projects will also have to set an example of Europeans living together in one community". The awards will be given to the best projects, selected from many entries from all of the 27 EU member states, by Hans-Gert Poettering, president of the EU Assembly, and by André Leysen, president of the Charles The Great Award International Foundation.
