Nurses nominated for European Citizen's Prize

The EPP Group is nominating European nurses for the prestigious European Citizen’s Prize 2020. “We want to honour our nurses, particularly for their heroic efforts on the COVID-19 frontline”, EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber MEP confirmed. “They protect us against the virus, they take care of us when we are sick, and sometimes they risk their lives to save our lives. We are forever thankful for their efforts.”

We must also learn from the experience of our frontline heroes in the aftermath of the pandemic so that the EU can be better prepared for future crises, insists Weber: “The Corona crisis has also emphasised the importance of public health concerns, and it is clear that in the future, the EU will have to be better prepared for these challenges.”

The European Citizen’s Prize would be a fitting tribute and an important gesture of appreciation from all of us, says Frances Fitzgerald MEP, EPP Group Spokeswoman on Women’s Rights: “It is our nurses who are with patients during their most difficult hours, holding their hands, giving comfort and dignity to those at their most vulnerable. The appreciation we have for their dedication and care in hospitals, in elderly care homes, and within family homes, was evident when we applauded them every evening during the height of the pandemic.”

In this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, the essential role of nurses has become especially visible, as Dennis Radtke MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on Employment, explains: “Nurses dedicate so much of themselves to others every day, and in doing so they exemplify European values. We commend their work and believe they would be worthy winners of the European Citizen’s Prize.”

If successful, the Group has proposed that the European Federation of Nurses Associations accepts the European Citizen’s Prize on behalf of the nurses they represent.