Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper)European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is inviting nominations for the 2023 ‘Award for Good Administration’ in the EU institutions. Challenging times, she says, requires an “agile and well-functioning” EU administration, and the biennial award seeks to recognize and reward the work of staff.
The Irish-born official said, “The EU administration is relatively small yet it deals with multiple policy areas, in addition to recent major crises such as COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.
“The public sees the output but rarely the vital background work that produces it and this award aims to shine a light on that,” said O’Reilly.
The Commission’s department for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (DG ECHO) and the European External Action Service (EEAS) won the overall award in 2021 for their work on repatriating EU citizens left stranded around the world by the pandemic.
The Award is open to any EU project and any team in any EU institution, agency or body. Nominations can be made by EU staff, citizens, businesses, associations, or by civil society groups.
Entries will be judged against the core principles of good public administration. Categories for the award submissions include excellence in open administration, excellence in diversity and inclusion, and excellence in innovation.
An advisory committee will draw up a short-list with the European Ombudsman selecting the winners and announcing them at a special ceremony in June 2023. There will also be an online public vote for the most popular project.
The rules and the submission form for the award are available on the European Ombudsman website. The nomination period opens on 27 October 2022 and closes on 31 January 2023. Nominated projects should concern the period January 2021 – December 2022.
