Have you ever wanted to express YOUR passionate opinion about the significance of the European Parliament to the lives of EU citizens? Have you ever itched to participate in a pan-European initiative alongside other young and like-minded individuals? Have you ever dreamt of MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the European integration project?

NOW is your chance to get your ‚creative juices‘ going and tell us in an innovative and convincing manner why the European Parliament matters to you and why there is a need to vote in the 2014 European parliamentary elections.

It is in your power to SHAPE your future so GET INVOLVED! Your contribution MATTERS and could win you the trip of a lifetime to Brussels! Are you IN???

Eligibility

Age 16-30
Citizens of the EU and Croatia
Individual or collective entries

Guidelines

Submissions must be in English or include an English translation.

Format examples for the competition entry:

• writing (such as an essay, story, newspaper/magazine, poem, article/report, blog, etc.) – word limitation: 3–3000 words;
• other art form (like painting, drawing, comics, caricature, photography, short theatre piece, etc.);
• audio-visual techniques (for instance, a video, short movie, game, song, etc.) – length limitation: 1-120 minutes;
• website, applications for social media or communication technologies (for example, Smartphone application, Facebook apps, etc.);
• visual documentation from a public event which you organised exclusively as your entry to the competition and consider a good example for future events (such as artistic performance, workshop, debate, etc.);
• or whatever else might come to your mind.

Participants need to provide a short description of their entry and to suggest three ways in which their submission can be disseminated to raise awareness about the role of the European Parliament. (see Enrolment form).

Deadlines

28 March 2013

Submissions can be made either electronically or by mail (date of stamp no later than 28 March):

• E-mail to ep.competition@epc.eu
  If your file(s) exceed the average attachment size, you can upload your entry to a publicly accessible storage and send us a link for download.
  Make sure that your entry can be opened using standard or freely accessible programmes.
• Postal address:
  „EP Competition“
  European Policy Centre
  Résidence Palace
  155 rue de la Loi
  B-1040 Brussels
  Belgium

Prize

An all-expenses-covered, once-in-a-lifetime trip to Brussels for 20 winners to present their entries, exchange ideas with decision makers and like-minded young Europeans, and see the EP at work.

Evaluation Criteria:

Relevance (35%)

• evidence of good understanding of the European Parliament’s role in the EU’s institutional architecture;
• quality of the message conveyed and relevance to the terms of competition;
• ability to transmit the message clearly on why the European Parliament matters to you and why you plan to vote in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Outreach (35%)

• capacity to raise awareness and understanding about the politics, policies and values of the European Parliament;
• ability  to promote active involvement in activities concerning the European Parliament;
• potential impact, feasibility, ingenuity, and cost effectiveness of your dissemination strategy.

Creativity and Originality (20%)

•  evidence of critical and creative thinking;
• originality of the message and form chosen to channel the idea.

Clarity of expression (10%)

Restrictions

One entry per individual or group.
The entry needs to be original, that is, it should not have been previously submitted to another competition.

Disclaimer: The competition is organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC), supported by the European Parliament.