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November 13, 2007

Chancellor Merkel to be Awarded 2008 Charlemagne Prize for EU Leadership

Aachen © bpa

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be awarded the 2008 International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen for her decisive leadership and outstanding contribution to the new momentum within the European Union, the prize society’s board of directors has announced.

At a time when the EU was in crisis, Chancellor Merkel in her role as EU Council President for the first half of 2007, played a significant part in helping the Union move beyond its shellshock, adopt important political decisions, and jumpstart the dialogue between citizens and European political leaders, the board stated. The partnership is again the focal point.

“The setting of a course toward a new momentum in the Union is decisively linked to the energetic, level-headed and integrating politics of Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel’s EU Council Presidency,” the board states in the prize announcement. The board of directors “is honoring a dedicated European for her ground-breaking contribution to the EU Reform Treaty, her integrating and human, as well as decisive and goal-oriented, leadership of negotiations; her astute diplomacy and her committed advocacy on behalf of European integration.”

International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is the oldest and most well-known award recognizing individuals or institutions for distinguished service on behalf of Europe and European integration. First awarded in 1950, the prize is named for the Emporer Charlemagne, who is considered the first unifier of Europe and who made Aachen his capital in the 8th century.

The 2008 prize will be presented to Chancellor Merkel on May 1, 2008, Ascension Day.

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