The EVawards Europeans of the year 2008

Europeans of the Year 2008: nominees and results

Press release: EVawards 2008 - this year's winners per category

European of the year 2008:
Meglena Kuneva, the European commissioner for consumer protection.

EU Official of the Year 2008 and Most Valued European:
Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank.

National politician of the year 2008:
Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France.

Commissioner of the year 2008:
Stavros Dimas, European commissioner for environment.

MEP of the year 2008:
Claude Turmes, the Luxembourgeois Green politician.

Inspiration of the year 2008:
Daniel Morar, head of Romania's anti-corruption agency.

The full list of nominees as 'Europeans of the Year 2008' is given below. The results of the public vote in which visitors are asked to select one nominee per category who they think deserves special recognition were announced at a gala dinner held on Tuesday, 2 December at the Palais de la Bourse in Brussels.

Winners per category for the 'Europeans of the Year' 2001 to 2007:

2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001

EV Awards 2008__247

2008 categories	2008 nominees (click on name for photograph to appear in a separate window)
National Politician of the Year:	Demitris Christofias, president of Cyprus, and Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the Turkish Cypriot community – for reviving hope of an end to the dispute over Cyprus Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's energy minister – for committing Germany to cut 40% of its emissions of carbon dioxide, beyond the EU targets for combatting climate change Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president – for helping to broker a deal that put an end to the war between Russia and Georgia Boris Tadic´, Serbia's president – for bringing his country closer to EU membership with the handing over of alleged war criminal Radovan Karadžic´ to the international court for former Yugoslavia Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister – for re-establishing Poland's position in the firmament of EU nations
Commissioner of the Year:	Stavros Dimas, environment – for steering the Commission's ambitious plans to combat climate change Mariann Fischer Boel, agriculture and rural development – for giving the common agricultural policy a reality-check Siim Kallas, administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud – for establishing a lobbyists register and for lifting the veil on end-beneficiaries of EU money Neelie Kroes, competition – for pursuing a robust anti-trust policy and helping to build a competitive energy market Meglena Kuneva, consumer protection – for striving to adapt consumer rights to the digital economy
Member of the European Parliament of the Year:	Chris Davies, UK Liberal Democrat – for blowing the whistle on abuses of MEPs' expenses Martine Roure, French centre-left – for steering MEPs towards reform of the system of expense allowances, including clearer rules on the employment of assistants Alexander Stubb, Finnish centre-right – for convincing MEPs that the European Parliament's code of conduct for lobbyists needed to be revised to provide greater transparency Claude Turmes, Luxembourgeois Green – for garnering cross-party support for ambitious targets to develop renewable energy Manfred Weber, German centre-right – for getting agreement on the return directive, to combat illegal immigration
EU Official of the Year:	Catherine Day, European Commission secretary-general – for ensuring efficiency and coherence in the biggest-ever European Commission Jonathan Faull, European Commission director-general for justice, freedom and security – for taking a tough line with the US in defence of EU visa policy Wolfgang Ischinger, EU representative in the negotiations on the future of Kosovo – for his efforts to broker an agreement between Serbs and Kosovars Ilkka Laitinen, director of EU border agency Frontex – for his contribution to improving the management of EU borders Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank – for his handling of the credit-crunch and its aftermath
Inspiration of the Year:	Katrine Camilleri, assistant director, Jesuit Refugee Service Malta – for her tireless campaign for the rights of asylum-seekers in detention Lyn Evans, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research – for running the world's biggest experiment, the Large Hadron Collider, which might reveal new insights into the nature of the cosmos Daniel Morar, head of Romania's anti-corruption agency – for taking the fight against graft to a high level George Soros, US financier and philanthropist – for speaking up for the rights and integration of Roma people in Europe

'The EVAwards Europeans of the Year 2008' was supported by:

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