| Author (Person) | Crosbie, Judith, King, Tim |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | 30.11.06 |
| Publication Date | 30/11/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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The EV50 gala evening on 28 November was an occasion to dispel the doubts of those who fear for the future of the European Union. The guests applauded the achievements of people who had imposed themselves at a difficult moment in the EU’s history. Reflecting on a year of introspection for the EU, Mario Monti, a former European commissioner and a member of the panel that selected the 50 nominees for the 2006 awards, said that the year had seen the emergence of "strong personalities in the European landscape". Several of those personalities were nominated for the EV50 awards and yet others were among the admiring audience of the great and good of Brussels at the Cercle Royal Gaulois. Dana Spinant, the editor of European Voice, remarked that, in voting on the nominees put forwarded by the panel, the newspaper’s readers had opted for cautious enlargement, reform of the European Parliament, innovation and economic reform. The tone of support for reform was struck from the very first announcement of one of the EV50 award winners: the Journalist of the Year category was won by Nils Mulvad, the Dane who forced his national government through court action and journalistic investigations to reveal how much farmers receive in subsidies. "People say they support openness but will find excuses for not doing anything. Winning this award shows there is no excuse," said Mulvad as he accepted his trophy. The Business Leader of the Year award was won by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the jointly nominated founders of Skype, the internet telephone service, whose invention challenges the model of traditional telephony. The Achiever of the Year category was won by Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk, for ensuring that his country would be the first of the new member states to join the eurozone in January. Bajuk described it as "a last step on our long homecoming journey". Monti, who was serving as master of ceremonies for the awards, recalled how in 1997 he had been one of a group of European commissioners fighting against attempts to limit the enlargement of the EU to just Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Slovenia’s performance was, he remarked, a retrospective justification for that campaign. A positive approach to expansion of the EU was affirmed too in the choice of European Commissioner of the Year: Olli Rehn, the commissioner for enlargement. He had been nominated by the panel "for sustaining the hopes of countries aspiring to join the EU, while maintaining pressure for reform". "I’m flattered," Rehn, said afterwards. "I take it as recognition of the value and worth of the EU as a soft power in bringing about democratic change." For Rehn, the only disappointment was that one of his favourite authors, Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish writer and Nobel laureate, did not win the category of Non-EU Citizen of the Year. That award went instead to Tariq Ramadan, the Swiss author of Egyptian descent who has been writing about Muslim and European identity. Born and raised in Switzerland, he was, he pointed out, a European, albeit not an EU citizen, and he stressed that millions of Europeans were Muslims. He called for "rational, reasonable debate" on Muslim and European identity and he urged the EU to play its part on the international stage. That was a theme taken up by the winner of the category of Diplomat of the Year, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, who had been nominated for his part in drafting the UN resolution that ended the summer’s fighting between Hizbullah and Israel. Speaking in French, the ambassador stressed that, even if there were continuing difficulties in Lebanon, the ceasefire had been a real achievement. There was no hiding some of the challenges that lie ahead for the EU, both domestically and abroad. In the category of Campaigner of the Year, the British actor Colin Firth was the winner, for his support for developing countries in negotiations to open up world trade. Luis Morago, the head of Oxfam’s Brussels office, who accepted the award on Firth’s behalf, complained that "Europe and the US are de facto moving into bilateral agreements with no development component…the soul of Doha is being lost". But a more optimistic note for 2007 was struck by Wilhelm Schönfelder, Germany’s ambassador to the EU. He came to the podium to accept an award on behalf of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. She won the inappropriately named category of ‘Statesman of the Year’ for brokering an agreement at last December’s European Council on the EU’s budget. "She knows so much about the EU and is a true pro-European. This will help us during the presidency," said Schönfelder. "Cross your fingers for us."
The EV50 gala evening on 28 November was an occasion to dispel the doubts of those who fear for the future of the European Union. |
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| Source Link | http://www.europeanvoice.com |
