“Single Market Award”: demonstrating the usefulness of the single market for the citizens of Europe
The Belgian Presidency of the European Union and the European Commission are launching the “Single Market Award” operation. Its objective is to remind people of the importance of the single market for the citizens of Europe. It consists of rewarding companies, citizens or organisations that are contributing in a significant way to the development of the single market.
The 2009 prizes were launched jointly by the Swedish Presidency of the EU and by the European Commission and were a clear success. The citizen Aurora de Freitas won the award.
The “Single Market Award” 2010 will be presented on 10 December, parallel to the European Competitiveness Council, by Belgian Minister for Economic Affairs Vincent Van Quickenborne and by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Michel Barnier.
Nomination and selection procedure for the prize
The SOLVIT and Enterprise Europe Network networks are called upon to nominate their candidates for the “Single Market Award”. These can be citizens, companies, NGOs, or anyone who has contributed through their activities to the development of the single market.
Each candidate file must include a brief history according to the following three criteria:
- Complexity of the problem / the obstacles encountered
- Originality of the solution
- Impact of the solution (among other things, the benefit for others).
Once all the applications have been brought together, a jury consisting of representatives of the European Commission and of the Belgian Presidency of the EU will be established to choose the grand prize winner.