Europa-Union Bocholt e.V. receives award "Europaaktive Zivilgesellschaft"

The Europa-Union Bocholt e.V. has been honoured by the North Rhine-Westphalian state government for its commitment as a "Europe-active civil society". The award ceremony took place on 25 February 2026 in the State Chancellery in Düsseldorf. The award honoured the association's decades of commitment to a vibrant, citizen-oriented and sustainable Europe.

The exemplary commitment of the Europa-Union Bocholt e.V. district association in the Euregio has been officially recognised at state level. The association is one of the civil society initiatives that were honoured this year for their special commitment to the European idea. At the award ceremony in Düsseldorf, the jury not only emphasised the association's decades of work, but also explicitly praised the innovative format of "Taster Golf". This offer was convincing as an innovative component of local European work and was the deciding factor for the award. At the same time, the jury encouraged the organisation to communicate its diverse activities to the public even more in future.

By once again honouring a local player, the city of Bocholt is consolidating its position as a European role model in the region. The city itself was awarded the title of "European Active Community" back in 2014. Bocholt is the only municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia to have received this award four times to date: once as a municipality and three times to civil society. In addition to the city and the now honoured Europa-Union, the German-British Society Bocholt e.V., the town twinning project choir and the project community Heimatverein Suderwick and Bürgerinitiative Dinxperwick e.V. have also been among the award winners in recent years. The district of Borken was also honoured at the current award ceremony in Düsseldorf for its decades of commitment and in particular for its successful cross-border cooperation.

According to a press release from the Minister for Federal and European Affairs, International Affairs and Media of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a total of five municipalities and eight civil society initiatives across the state were honoured this year in the name of Minister President Hendrik Wüst. Europe Minister Nathanael Liminski and Local Government Minister Ina Scharrenbach both emphasised at the event that Europe comes to life above all through the passionate commitment of local players. The honoured projects and municipalities are important role models for democracy, bring the European idea into people's daily lives and make Europe tangible. The state government's awards have been presented by independent juries since 2013 for municipalities and since 2018 for civil society, with the next round of applications scheduled for 2027.