MEP AWARDS 2007

Paul Rübig is a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He is also the President of SME Global (a union of small and medium enterprises) and has worked to stress the importance of economic growth in Europe and the necessity of supporting competitiveness, infrastructure, education and research. He has been involved in schemes teaching young people about the work of the EU.

He is a substitute for the Committee on Budgets, a member of the Delegation for Relations with Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and to the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee, and a substitute for the Delegation for Relations with Australia and New Zealand. Rubig has a doctorate from the Linz University Institute in Austria in Auditing, Trusteeship and Accountancy.

Gerard Onesta championed the idea of creating a European Parliament film prize. The new cultural award, the ‘Prix LUX’ will be awarded for the first time in October this year. A shortlist of three European films will be chosen by cinema experts, with MEPs voting for the final winner. In line with Onesta’s plans, the winning film will not be awarded a sum of money but will be subtitled into the EU's 23 official languages. Onesta has argued that subtitling will remove linguistic barriers and allow widespread distribution of films.

Onesta has also held several key roles within the French Green Movement, including co-founding the Federation of Young European Greens. He was elected Vice-President of the European Parliament in 1999 and was re-elected in 2002, 2004, and 2006. The French MEP is also a member of the Parliament’s Mercosur Delegation.

Erna Hennicot-Schoepges was rapporteur for the Parliamentary Report on the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue for 2008. The idea for the year was initially proposed by the European Commissioner for Culture, Ján Figel. With an overall budget of €10m, the European year is designed to highlight a number of diverse projects on culture, education, youth, sport and citizenship. In the Parliamentary vote on Hennicot-Schoepges’ report last year, a small majority of MEPs also called for dialogue between Europe’s religions to be the main topic of the year's events.

Hennicot-Schoepges is a member of the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and part of the Delegation for Relations with Mercosur. She studied music at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Paris College of Music Teachers. She is also Chairwoman of the European Institute of Choir Singing.