Creation and aims The award was created in 2007. The word origin is related to the aim of the award, which is to illuminate public debate on
European integration and to facilitate the diffusion of European films in the European Union". The European Parliament believes that
films help to instigate debate and raise awareness of
socio-political issues in Europe, especially with regard to
European integration, thus helping to forge and celebrate a stronger
European identity and values. The prize also helps to publicise and encourage distribution of
European films in the
European Union and throughout the world, which otherwise may not get widespread distribution owing to language and other barriers. The jury members were appointed by the
European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education, and it was planned that a third of the jury would be rotated each year. All members of the European Parliament were able to watch the final three films, but only those who have seen all three qualify for voting rights. The producers of the ten shortlisted films are required to provide digital copies in the form of
DVDs,
Vimeo link, or
OpenDCP for the members of the European Parliament. In 2015, the shortlisted
Son of Saul was disqualified when the production team refused to provide this, fearing that the film copies would be
pirated. In 2019, there were 21 members on the judging panel. The selection of the first 10 films was announced in March of that year, with the final three selected in July and the winner announced in
Strasbourg on 27 November. The new format was announced by
Sabine Verheyen, chair of the Culture Committee, at the
77th Venice International Film Festival. There would henceforth be five nominees competing for the award, which would all be subtitled in 24 European languages, but due to the impact of the pandemic on the film industry, only three would be nominated for the first edition of the new format. The jury would remain similar, but the winner would be selected jointly by MEPs and the public, with each contributing 50 per cent towards the final vote. ==Award process==