MEP Award: Seven MEPs recognized for their outstanding contribution to EU policy-making

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Including the winner brand benifaya member of parliament from Italy’s centre-left Socialist and Democratic Party (S&D); Dragosh TudracheRomanian parliamentarians from the centrist Renew Europe group jointly received the Delegated Parliamentary Award.

Both men rose to prominence after leading the development of the bloc’s groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence Act, the world’s first law to regulate AI technology. They are believed to have the crucial task of reaching an agreement on the law, balancing the interests of the EU’s 27 member states.

Otmar Karas, an Austrian lawmaker from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), who is one of the parliament’s vice-speakers and received a lifetime achievement award. Karas, an expert in financial regulation, has worked in Brussels for 25 years and is Austria’s longest-serving parliamentarian.

Former European Commission President Jacques Delors, considered the architect of the current EU, was also posthumously awarded a special award.

Dragosh PithralA Romanian lawmaker from Renew Europe, who has led the ‘One Europe, One Youth’ initiative to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people in Europe, has been awarded the Youth Champion Award.

The 20th edition of the MEP Awards included 20 MEPs who are considered the “rising stars” of EU politics. Among them are Katalin Cze of Hungarian Momentum Group, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his ruling Fidesz party, and moderate French lawmaker Nathalie Cze, who chairs parliament’s defense subcommittee. Mr. Loiseau was also included.

The winners were selected from a short list of public nominees by a panel of judges representing a wide range of fields, from journalism to human rights organizations.

There are just three months left until voters head to the polls in the EU’s 27 member states to elect new representatives to the European Parliament, the only democratically elected EU institution.

The award is given based on the legislator’s performance during the current five-year term, which began in 2019.

Congressman Al Salani wins Best Speech Award

The award for best speech went to Abil Al Safrani, a Swedish lawmaker from the centrist group Renew Europe.

In May 2022, Al-Sahrani expressed solidarity with Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who was killed at the hands of Iran’s moral police for not adhering to the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, half a cycle before Strasbourg. I got my hair cut while giving a speech.

“We will stand with you until the women of Iran are free,” al-Sahrani said while cutting her hair in a 2022 speech.

“Women, freedom in life,” she cried, using a popular slogan representative of Amini’s legacy.

MPs Fitzgerald and Inseer elected as champions of ‘European values’

The mission’s “Defender of European Values” award went to two MPs who have been at the forefront of the parliamentary battle to pass the first-ever EU law to combat violence against women.

Evin Inseer of S&D Group and Frances Fitzgerald of EPP Group are the chief negotiators for the EU directive, which criminalizes violence against women, including forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FMG), which was agreed in February. .

Both women fought for rape to also be listed as an EU-wide crime, but this failed due to strong opposition from several EU member states, including France, Germany and the Netherlands. progressive countries.

Swedish Member of Parliament Evin Incil told Euronews in January She said she was “very disappointed” in French President Emmanuel Macron and German Justice Minister Marko Buschmann, who are working hand-in-hand with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to block the bill, which is “dismantling women’s rights in Hungary.” I did,” he said.

“How two liberal men can act hand in hand with an illiberal minority is beyond me,” Incil told Euronews.

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They said that although rape is not included, the new law means women across Europe will be better protected from all forms of violence, including cyber violence such as online harassment and stalking, and the sharing of AI-generated pornographic images. It is claimed that there is.

Posthumous recognition of Jacques Delors

Jacques Delors, former president of the European Commission and a prominent figure on the French left, received a special award to commemorate the 20th edition.

Delors, considered the founding father of the EU currency and the EU single market, died in December at the age of 98.

He is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of EU institutions and left a lasting legacy of deeper European integration.

Enrico Letta, president of the Jacques Delors Foundation, also attended the award ceremony.

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Other honorees at the ceremony included Katarzyna Biniaszczyk, who received the Parliamentary Assistant for Duties Award, and Rafaela de Marte, Head of Parliamentary Media Services, who received the award for outstanding contribution to the work of Parliament. It was done.