Charlemagne Youth Prize 2025 awarded by the European Parliament

The European Parliament is opening today (9 January) until 30 January (23:59 CET) the deadline for submitting applications for the Charlemagne Youth Prize. The award, organised jointly by the European Parliament and the International Charlemagne Youth Prize Foundation of Aachen, is given to projects led by young people that foster democracy and promote active citizenship and community building in Europe and around the world.

 

The prize, which has been awarded since 2008, highlights the daily work of young people who want to strengthen the sense of a European identity, and rewards their active participation in the development of the continent.

Eligibility requirements are to be between 16 and 30 years old at the time of application, to be a resident of one of the EU Member States and to have a European project that has already delivered results aimed at improving understanding at national and international level, as well as encouraging other young people to participate in European democracy. Projects can be individual, on behalf of a group of young people or on behalf of an organisation.

The evaluation of projects will give priority to transnational projects, involving young people from more than one EU country. The jury will also take into account the extent to which the project has achieved the objectives of the prize, as well as the creativity and originality of each initiative. Those interested in applying can find out how to do so here. In addition, if you have any doubts, you can resolve them by clicking on this link to frequently asked questions.

Timetable and procedure

Projects may submit their applications from 9 to 30 January 2025 (23:59 CET). After the deadline, the projects will be evaluated by national juries (2 MEPs and a representative of the youth sector in the country where the project was submitted), from which the best project at national level will be selected. The winning projects from each Member State will be announced in March.
From the 27 winning projects, a jury – composed of EP President Roberta Metsola, two MEPs, three representatives of the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation in Aachen and two representatives of the youth sector – will select the three winning European projects. The award ceremony will be held in Aachen (Germany) in May, to which representatives of each of the winning national projects will be invited.

Prizes and former winners

The three winning European projects will receive a financial award: €7,500 for the winner, €5,000 for the runner-up and €2,500 for the third. As part of the prize, the three winners will be invited to visit the European Parliament (in Brussels or Strasbourg).

In addition, one representative of each of the three European prize-winners will be eligible for a Schuman traineeship at the European Parliament. The representative proposed for the traineeship must be part of the core team of the winning project and fulfil all the requirements for access to the traineeship programme. The traineeship may start on 1 October or 1 March of the twelve months following the award.

In 2024, the Spanish winner was “Forum on the Future of the EU”, a project of the pro-European youth association “Equipo Europa” which promotes debate on the Union and proposes concrete measures to improve it, based on research by pro-Europeans from all over the continent. At European level, the first prize went to the Lithuanian proposal “Sisterhood Pathways”, a project that aims to combat violence against women in the Baltic countries through art, interviews, local workshops, international events and a social media campaign. Second place went to “Penser, agir et plaider ensemble pour ne laisser aucun.e jeune de côté”, a French initiative that fosters solidarity among European youth facing poverty and exclusion, enabling them to voice their concerns and advocate for change. The third prize went to the German entry “Europe Magazine”, a German Instagram account that reflects Europe’s complex social problems through maps, infographics and statistics.

More information: European Parliament.