The Emperor-Maximilian-Prize for European Service at the Regional and Local Level, is a European Prize in the field of European local and regional politics, awarded by the City of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

and the Region of Tyrol ( Austria).

Criteria for submissions

Submitted projects should: have an innovative focus; pursue new approaches or organisational methods; and include an assessment of the effects and developments of the project objectives, or the expected effects. Decisive here are the diverse aspects of European integration. Critical criteria include: the effectiveness of the project; sustainability and creativity; and the focus on motivating other target groups to engage independently with Europe.

Awarding

The Emperor-Maximilian-Prize will be awarded every two years starting in 2019. The prize consists of a certificate, a medal (1509 Emperor Maximilian I medallion) and a cash prize in the amount of € 10,000. The cash prize is earmarked for the awarded project.
In 2019, the project "Rückenwind – Solidarity with the forgotten corners" was honoured for its European service at regional and local level.

Emperor-Maximilian-Prize 2021

In 2021, the motto of the Emperor-Maximilian-Prize was "Facing challenges together – for a stronger Europe". The focus was on all those projects that maintain their European ties despite the ongoing global crisis. In an international jury meeting in early March, the winning project was determined. It was honoured at the award ceremony in October 2021. Nana Walzer and Daniel Gerer accepted the prize in Innsbruck on behalf of the prize-winning project. The official award ceremony was framed by a students' event as well as a citizens' event. At the events, the winning project was also represented by Alexa Waschkau and Alexander Waschkau (Hoaxilla), Martin Moder and Florian Aigner (What the Fact), Sophia and Tommy Krappweis,

Holm Gero Hümmler Holm Gero Hümmler (born September 22, 1970) is a German nuclear physicist and skeptic, living in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt am Main. Biography Hümmler was born in Hanau. He studied physics and meteorology at Goethe University Frankfurt, tog ...

and Bernd Harder (WildMics-Ferngespräche).

Background

The prize, named after Emperor

Maximilian I Maximilian I may refer to: *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, reigned 1486/93–1519 *Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, reigned 1597–1651 *Maximilian I, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636-1689) *Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, reigned 1795� ...

, was established in 1997 by the Region of Tyrol and the City of Innsbruck on the occasion of the 85th birthday of Innsbruck Mayor Alois Lugger. Since then, the award has honoured outstanding achievements of personalities and institutions in European regional and local politics. In particular, efforts to implement the principle of

subsidiarity Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...

and the contents of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the European Charter of Regional Self-Government of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

have been honoured.
In the context of the preparations for the 2019 Emperor Maximilian Commemorative Year, the Region of Tyrol and the City of Innsbruck jointly decided at the beginning of 2018 to fundamentally renew the existing tender and award process in order to make the overall concept of the award even more citizen-oriented and inclusive. Instead of awarding prizes for outstanding individual achievements, the call for entries will in future be directed at outstanding projects and initiatives that are committed to the central goals of the European unification process in a joint, creative and sustainable manner. In addition, the award has been renamed to “Emperor Maximilian Prize for European Service at the Regional and Local Level”. From now on, the call for applications is directed in particular at individuals, groups of persons (societies and associations), research institutions, interest groups and local authorities of all 47 Council of Europe member states, plus Belarus. Applications will be accepted exclusively via the application platform integrated into the homepage, whereby the application form can be filled in with German, English or French. The decision on the winning project will be announced after an (international) expert jury meeting.

Award Recipients

1998: Jordi Pujol
1999: Josef Hofmann
2000: Luc Van den Brande
2001: Josephine Farrington
2002: Erwin Teufel and Heinrich Hoffschulte
2003: Alain Chénard
2004: Elisabeth Gateau
2005:

Jan Olbrycht Jan Marian Olbrycht (born 21 September 1952, in Rybnik) is a Polish politician of the Civic Platform who has been serving Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Silesian Voivodeship since 2004. Olbrycht sits as part of the European People' ...

2007: Michael Häupl and Graham Meadows
2008: Dora Bakoyannis
2009: Giovanni Di Stasi
2010: Halvdan Skard
2011: Danuta Hübner
2012:

Keith Whitmore Keith Arthur Whitmore (born 15 June 1955) is a former British politician. He was a Liberal and later Liberal Democrat member of Manchester City Council for more than thirty years, retiring in 2012, and was also a member of the Committee of the Re ...

2013: Karl-Heinz Lambertz
2014: Herwig van Staa
2015:

Mercedes Bresso Mercedes Bresso (born 12 July 1944) is an Italian politician (Democratic Party) who served as Member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2019. Early life and career Bresso was born in Sanremo, Province of Imperia, Liguria. In 1969, she re ...

2016: Anders Knape
2017:

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

2019: Project Rückenwind – Solidarity with the forgotten corners
2021: #EUROPAgegenCovid19/#EUmythbusters (Nana Walzer, Daniel Gerer)

References

{{reflist Politics awards Austrian awards House of Habsburg Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor