Daphne Caruana Galizia prize for journalists agreed by European Parliament

The Bureau of the European Parliament has just agreed to launch the Daphne Caruana Galizia prize for journalism. The prize, proposed by the Greens/EFA group, will distinguish outstanding journalism revolving around the principles and values of the European Union. It will be awarded for articles on topics of interest linked to the values enshrined in the European Charter of Human Rights and resulting from in-depth journalism undertaken by professional journalists or teams of journalists of any nationality. The prize will be judged by a panel of independent journalists and provide €20,000 funding in prize money. The Greens/EFA group have long called for a prize in the name of the murdered Maltese journalist to honour her name and support journalists and the vital work they do.

Heidi Hautala MEP, Greens/EFA MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament, comments:

“Journalists are still not safe in the European Union. The fact that they are threatened is a sign of much deeper problems - and this prize in itself will assist the EU in tackling those problems. But we are honouring an individual by this prize. Ms Caruana Galizia knew she put herself on the harm’s way, but she kept going. She has left behind a family. Today is, for this reason, not a day to celebrate, but to remember and honour a person of courage.”

"The Daphne Caruana Galizia prize will recognise the essential role that journalists play in preserving our democracies and serve as a reminder to citizens of the importance of a free press. This prize is designed to help journalists in the vital and often dangerous work they do and show that the European Parliament supports investigative journalists."

Sven Giegold MEP, Greens/EFA Member who attended the Parliament's missions to Malta over recent years, comments: 

"The Daphne Caruana Galizia prize will strengthen investigative and courageous journalism and press freedom. The importance of investigative journalism has been demonstrated by Daphne and many others through revelations about various tax and corruption stories in recent years. 

"There are problems with freedom of the press, not only in Malta but also in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Daphne Caruana Galizia's name has been chosen for this prize because of the vital works she did in Malta to report so persistently and consistently on corruption and money laundering."