Award ceremony at the end of May: Charlemagne Prize for Ursula von der Leyen – “The Face of Europe”

As a “strong voice of Europe in the world”, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be awarded the Charlemagne Prize 2025. In a time of epoch-making challenges, in which the European Union is threatened from outside by Russia’s war of aggression and from within by racists and demagogues, it is vigorously representing Europe’s interests, the Charlemagne Prize Directorate explained its decision.

Endowed with one million euros for the first time

“For us, the President of the European Commission is the face of Europe in the world,” said the chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors, Jürgen Linden. The International Charlemagne Prize in Aachen is considered the most important award for services to European unification. It is traditionally awarded on Ascension Day, this year on May 29th. This year, the 75th since the prize was founded, it is endowed with one million euros for the first time, donated by a couple from Aachen. The money should be used for pro-European projects.

“This award touches me deeply,” wrote 66-year-old von der Leyen on Platform X. “Big thanks on behalf of everyone who believes in our Europe.” The CDU politician and former Federal Minister of Defense has been President of the European Commission in Brussels since 2019. After the European elections last June, in which her center-right EPP alliance received the most votes, she was confirmed for her second term in office.

Biting mockery from Sahra Wagenknecht

One of the first to congratulate was NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU). In the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, von der Leyen left no doubt from day one that the EU was firmly on the side of the Ukrainians, he emphasized. Von der Leyen is determined to “strengthen Europe’s weight and voice in the world,” which is more important than ever given the global shifts in power politics, said Wüst. Criticism came from BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht: “Is Ms. von der Leyen receiving the Charlemagne Prize for the wanton destruction of the European car industry or the horrible EU bureaucracy that is stifling more and more prosperity?” sneered the former left-wing politician. The prize could be awarded next year to “bankruptcy minister” Robert Habeck.

Charlemagne Prize Directorate sounds the alarm: Europe is in danger

In its justification, the Charlemagne Prize Directorate paints the picture of a threatened union. “The European model of life of freedom, peace, democracy and prosperity is at risk,” says the text from the 19 board members. “The world order is changing and Europe must act. Ursula von der Leyen is the person who has this strategic task for the European Union and who will master it.” The Board of Directors cited the containment of the corona pandemic, the united stance against Russia and the impetus for the “Green Deal”, with which the EU wants to become climate neutral by 2050, as special achievements.

The Charlemagne Prize was founded shortly after the Second World War by the citizens of Aachen at the suggestion of the entrepreneur Kurt Pfeiffer. It is named after Emperor Charlemagne, whose Frankish Empire stretched across large parts of Western Europe in the early Middle Ages and who is therefore sometimes referred to as the “Father of Europe”.

Adenauer and Churchill were among the first winners

Among the first winners were Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1954) and the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1955), who campaigned for the “United States of Europe” after the end of the war. Von der Leyen’s predecessor as Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, was also honored, although as Luxembourg’s head of government in 2006.

The last head of the Commission to receive the prize was Jacques Delors in 1992, who is considered to have completed the European internal market and pioneered the euro. So it is rare for a commission head to win the prize. The last German to be honored with the Charlemagne Prize was the then President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (SPD), in 2015.