The Diplomat
The Jean Monnet ad personam professor of constitutional law and vice-president of the Royal European Academy of Doctors, Teresa Freixes, has been awarded the 18th Otto von Habsburg Prize for the year 2021.
The distinction was awarded unanimously by the members of the jury, which met last Wednesday, chaired by Florentino Portero and made up of the members of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Committee for the Pan-European Union, with Carlos Uriarte Sánchez acting as secretary.
The Otto von Habsburg Prize has been awarded since 2004 to personalities committed to the process of European integration and with strong links to our country. So far it has been awarded to: Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, Hermann Tertsch, José Antonio Jáuregui, Rosario Silva Lapuerta, Fernando Álvarez de Miranda, José María Gil-Robles, Simeón de Bulgaria, Lord Garel-Jones, Gerardo Fernández Albor, Raimundo Bassols, Emilio Lamo de Espinosa, Francisco Pinto Balsemao, Darío Valcárcel, Nick Clegg, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, Eugenio Nasarre and Margaritis Schinás.
The laureate holds a PhD in Law from the University of Barcelona, was a professor of Constitutional Law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and is a Jean Monnet Professor ad personam (Succes Stories distinction). She is Vice-President of the Royal European Academy of Doctors. Expert of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. President of the Free Culture Foundation and the international organisation Citizens pro Europe.
As a legal expert, she has participated in the drafting of the Treaties of Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon, the European Constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
In this year 2021, Paneuropa España wanted to highlight the commitment to democracy, freedom and the rule of law of a convinced Europeanist with the Otto of Habsburg Award, recognising her academic and activist career in civil society in the service of the construction of a United Europe, according to a note from the organisation.
The note adds that “Teresa Freixes has consistently embodied in her life the defence of an integrating constitutionalism of Spain, which this year celebrates 35 years of membership of the European Union, being a Catalan and a Spaniard, who has made Europe the homeland of her choice”.
“In very difficult circumstances, in which the European Union must face major challenges, the example of Freixes, from academia and civil society, is as commendable as it is encouraging,” the note concludes.
