Article 1: Theme of the competition

The European Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen invite young people from all the EU Member States to participate in a competition on EU development, integration and European identity issues.
The 'European Charlemagne Youth Prize' is awarded to projects, which

• promote the European and international understanding,
• foster the development of a shared sense of European identity and integration,
• serve as a role model for young people living in Europe and offer practical examples of Europeans living together as one community.

The projects can focus on the organisation of various youth events, youth exchanges or internet projects with a European dimension.

Article 2: Application deadline

The application deadline is 23 January 2012. Application forms are available through the web sites of European Charlemagne Youth Prize (www.charlemagneyouthprize.eu) and national Information Offices of the European Parliament - www.europarl.org.uk or Tel: 0207 227 4300.

Article 3: Participation requirements

Applicants should be 16-30 years old.
The participants must be citizens or residents of one of the 27 member states of the European Union.
Participants can apply, either individually or in groups; in the case of group and multinational projects, the project can only be submitted in one country.
Applications in all official languages of the European Union are eligible
The projects submitted for the competition must have started and:
a) finished within the calendar year (12 months) preceding the current application deadline or
b) be still running.
All applications must include the following information:

• Title of the project
• Applicant's surname, first name and name of the organization (if applicable)
• Nationality
• Date of birth
• Contact Address
• E-mail address
• Telephone number (mobile phone and/or fix phone)
• Internet site: (if applicable)
• Complete description of the project
• Summary (1-3 pages) in, English, French or German
• Declaration on EU funding (if applicable)

Applicants must keep a copy of the material as it may not be returned by selection juries.

Article 4: Exclusion from participation

The following projects shall be ineligible:

• projects submitted by persons working in the European institutions and in the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen.
• academic theses and publications.
• projects which receive more than 50% funding through EU Institutions except if this funding is only the start up of a project or covering solely current expenses of a programme, such as costs for participants, whereas the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the project is carried out on a voluntary basis.
• projects that have already received a prize awarded by an European institution. This includes the final 3 winners of the previous editions of European Charlemagne Youth Prize Competition.
• projects submitted with incomplete applications or applications sent in several parts.

Article 5: Assessment criteria

The projects will be assessed according to the following principles:

• Must fulfill the objectives of the competition: promote the European and international understanding; foster the development of a shared sense of European identity and offer practical examples of Europeans living together as one community.
• Priority will be given to projects created jointly by young people representing several Member States.
• Attention will be given to projects carried out on a voluntary basis.

Article 6: Selection Process

The winner or the European Charlemagne Youth Prize will be selected in two-step process.
First step: national juries consisting of at least two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and one representative of youth organizations will select one national winner from each of 27 Member States by 5 March 2012.
Second step: the European jury consisting of three MEPs and the President of the European Parliament, four representatives of the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen will select the winner from the 27 projects submitted by national juries by 5 April 2012.
The decision of the European jury is final. The jury reserves a right to reject any entry that does not comply with the requirements of the competition.

Article 7: Prize

The prize for the best project is €5000, the second, €3000 and the third, €2000.
Representatives of the 27 national projects selected will be invited to the award ceremony in Aachen, Germany on 15 May 2012.
The prizes for the best three projects will be presented by the President of the European Parliament and representative of the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen.
As part of the prize, the laureates will be invited to visit the European Parliament (in Brussels or in Strasbourg).

Article 8: Copyright

The European Parliament and the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen reserve the right to use the contributed material for presentation and media use and to reproduce it for the promotional purposes.

Article 9: Responsibility

The organisers cannot be held responsible for the cancellation, postponement or modification of the competition due to unforeseen circumstances, nor will they be responsible for any theft, loss, delay or damage during the transport of applications.

Article 10: Acceptance of regulations

Participation in the competition implies full acceptance of these rules.

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