title: Vision for Europe Award
text: # Vision for Europe Award
  
  The Vision for Europe Award is an honour that has been bestowed annually since 1995 by the non-profit Edmond Israel Foundation in "recognition of outstanding achievements in taking Europe into the future."
  
  Between 1995 and 2008, the award was presented to the recipient in a ceremony at the Edmond Israel Foundation building in Luxembourg City. Luxembourg's best-known sculptor Lucien Wercollier designed the statue presented to the recipients. The first Vision for Europe Award was given to Jacques Santer in 1995, the year he left his position as Prime Minister of Luxembourg to become President of the European Commission. The award honored his efforts to unite Europe into a single entity.
  
  Since 2016, the Award is presented during the Prague European Summit. The statue is produced by the Czech glass manufacturer Preciosa.
  
  ## Recipients
  
  | Year | Image | Choice | Notes |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1995 | | Jacques Santer | at the time President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg |
  | 1996 | | Jean-Luc Dehaene | Prime Minister of Belgium |
  | 1997 | | Helmut Kohl | Chancellor of Germany |
  | 1998 | | Jean-Claude Juncker | Prime Minister of Luxembourg |
  | 1999 | | Wim Duisenberg | first president of the European Central Bank and formerly Minister of Finance for the Netherlands |
  | 2000 | | Árpád Göncz | President of Hungary |
  | 2001 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
  | 2002 | | Guy Verhofstadt | Prime Minister of Belgium |
  | 2003 | | Javier Solana | High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Secretary-General of both the Council of the European Union (EU) and the Western European Union (WEU) and former Secretary General of NATO. |
  | 2004 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
  | 2005 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
  | 2006 | | Angela Merkel | Chancellor of Germany |
  | 2007 | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
  | 2008 | | Jean-Claude Trichet | President of the European Central Bank and former governor of the Banque de France |
  | 2016 | | Wolfgang Wessels | Professor & Jean Monnet Chair, University of Cologne. |
  | 2017 | | Timothy Garton Ash | Historian and professor of European Studies at Oxford University |
  | 2018 | | Emily O'Reilly | European Ombudsman |
  