Marcelino Oreja AguirreThe King will be accompanied by Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament.

Next Tuesday, 9 May, Europe Day, His Majesty the King will preside the delivery of the Carlos V European Award to the Spanish politician Marcelino Oreja Aguirre at the Royal Monastery of Yuste.

With this award, the European Academy of Yuste Foundation acknowledges annually, coinciding with Europe Day, the work of those who have excelled in their commitment in favour of the process of building the European Union or by their contribution to the enhancement of the cultural, scientific and historical values of Europe. This award represents the spirit of the construction of a united Europe, becoming an opportunity to claim from Extremadura the values of a united, supportive and committed Europe.

This ceremony will be attended, amongst other personalities, by the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani; the Ibero-American General Secretary, Rebeca Grynspan; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfonso María Dastis Quecedo; the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y Montojo; and also by the president of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara.

The Ambassadors of Belgium, Poland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, United Kingdom, Austria, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus and the Netherlands in Spain; the Spanish ambassador to France, Ramón de Miguel; in addition to several members of the European Academy of Yuste such as the ex- secretary-general of the Unesco, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, the politician Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra; and the historians Manuela Mendonça and Gustaaf Janssens, will be present.

This year is a special edition as it commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Treaty of Maastricht and the 40 years since Marcelino Oreja requested, on behalf of Spain, accession to the European Communities and signed Spain’s accession to the Council of Europe and to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

With this award, the jury wanted to acknowledge Marcelino Oreja “for his lifetime contribution to the process of European construction and integration, to which he has devoted his energy from the different positions he has held, both in national and European organisations, including that o Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Kingdom of Spain, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and European Commissioner. Equally active and fruitful were his contributions in the academic and civil society. It is equally worthy to note his tireless work to promote the idea of Europe and the enhancement of European values, especially those related to European cultural diversity and the protection of human rights. Oreja becomes the 11th person to be awarded the Carlos V European Award.

Eleven editions that allow to confirm that the Carlos V European Award has an established and proven route that reaffirms Extremadura’s commitment with the process of building Europe and the values it promotes, highlighting the importance of initiatives like this, created from civil society, towards the unity and cooperation of the peoples of Europe.

The people awarded to date have been Jacques Delors (1995), Wilfried Martens (1998), Felipe González (2000), Mijail Gorbachov (2002), Jorge Sampaio (2004), Helmut Kohl (2006), Simone Veil (2008), Javier Solana (2010) and José Manuel Durao Barroso (2013) and Sofía Corradi- Mamma Erasmus (2016).

The ceremony of the Carlos V European Award, which is organised by the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, has the institutional sponsorship of the European Parliament, the support of the Regional Government of Extremadura and of National Heritage, and the collaboration of Extremadura Avante and Canal Extremadura.