With representatives across Eastern and Southern Europe, including Poland, Czech Republic, Rumania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Moldova, as well as in Russia and the Ukraine, MC practically covers the entire region. It ofers its services to a wide range of clients, including Gazprom, STIHL and Bausch & Lomb. Additionally, MC leads a large number of campaigns for institutional clients, such as the European Commission's initiative entitled "Window to Europe", for which MC produces a weekly 30-minute TV programme.

The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations is the center of the German Economy for the Eastern European and Central Asian markets. It conducts a large number of projects, events and corporate trips. It comprises 130 companies and trade associations.

MC will develop the encompassing communication strategy and will organise the opening event of the SME Week. Moreover, the agency for integrated communications has been entrusted with the design, editing and production of posters, merchandising products and a brochure about successful entrepreneurship. MEDIA CONSULTA will also optimise the existing website and will produce several viral spots to raise awareness of the SME Week.

The European Entrepreneurship Video Awards are part of the SME Week. In the scope of this competition, employers and students are encouraged to submit videos that explore the subjects of responsible and innovative entrepreneurship. MC is responsible for the promotion of the awards on the internet, for the nomination of the jury and for the organisation of the awarding ceremony. The producers of the best videos will be awarded at the opening event of the SME Week.

In addition to the promotion of small and medium enterprises, the SME Week is meant to motivate potential entrepreneurs to work towards achieving their goals. Existing SMEs should be encouraged to further develop their business to maximise its full potential.

The events of the SME Week give existing and potential entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop new ideas together and to establish networks. In 2009, 1.200 events took place in 35 European countries. The SME Week is one of the measurements to implement the “Small Business Act” (SBA) of the EU, which also aims to strengthen SMEs.

The 2009 winner, Christopher Azzopardi, was enthusiastic about his success: “I am very honoured to receive the prize. The photo was the most challenging picture I have ever taken. I was wearing protective clothing when I took the photo of a beekeeper working in an apiary in Malta, but the bees still managed to sting me several times. Through this photo I wanted to show the importance of wearing protective clothing while working in a dangerous environment.”

The second and third prize were handed to Eric Despujols from France (“Welder”) and Rodrigo Cabrita from Portugal (“A hard and complicated life”).

The Europe-wide photo competition has captured the imagination of photography enthusiasts across the European Union, who submitted around 1,700 photos. With every new photograph an insight into the interpretations of safety and health among Europe’s citizens was gained. Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, emphasized the great success of the competition at the award ceremony in Bilbao: “The interest shown and creative talent on display has been very encouraging. I am very pleased to award the best and most original photos answering our question “What’s your image of safety and health at work?”. Humour, simplicity and innocence are often present, sometimes accompanied by a slight sense of tension or even provocation, as if to remind us of the everyday importance of healthier and safer workplaces.”

The photo competition was organised in the framework of the Agency’s Healthy Workplaces campaign on risk assessment. All photographers – professionals or amateurs – were invited to join the competition and submit their photographs between May 9th and August 15th 2009. An acclaimed international jury was in charge to select the best entries: Top photographers Mertxe Alarcón, Clemente Bernad, Miguel Ángel Gaüeca and Ambroise Tézenas were joined by Peter Rimmer, communication expert in occupational safety and health and formerly from the Health and Safety Executive UK.

For more information on the submitted photographs and the “What’s your image of safety and health at work?” competition, please visit www.osha-photocompetition.eu.

The activities in the Latin-American Mercosur states, to which Brasil belongs, too, are part of a strategy for advancing MC’s global presence. In addition to founding further network agencies, priority is given to gaining new clients such as APEX Brasil. The organisation of the WAIPA Conference is the first project MC has implemented for the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency; further campaigns are planned. Besides the meeting in Milan, the APEX has supported a second project in Europe: a press conference regarding the topic “Exotic fruit juices made in Brazil” during the food and beverage exhibition Anuga 2009 in Cologne/Germany together with Etélio Prado, President of the Association of Tropical Fruit-Processing Industries (ASTN).

A panel of judges in each of the 36 participating countries will select the respective national winner. Furthermore, an international jury will award three special prizes, one for the “Most original” submission, one for the “Best research” and another one for the “Best journalistic style.” Each of the three Special Prize winners will receive a cultural trip to a European capital of their choice.

Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement welcomed the European Young Journalist Award: “The third edition of the European Young Journalist Award continues to reward excellent journalism and gives the European Commission the opportunity to exchange ideas with Europe’s most promising young journalists about matters that are at the core of the EU Enlargement project.”

The winners of the European Young Journalist Award will visit Istanbul in May 2010 for a cultural and historical trip. Istanbul, one of Europe’s Capitals of Culture for 2010, provides an ideal location for the winners to enlarge their vision through cross-cultural interaction. The trip will end with a conference where views about European culture, identity and EU Enlargement will be exchanged with leading international analysts.

For information on how to enter the competition, please visit www.EUjournalist-award.eu.

Press contact:
Maurizio Picheca
European Commission/ DG Enlargement
Tel. +32 2 29 51929

Yasmin Love
MEDIA CONSULTA International Holding AG
Tel. +49 (0)30 65 000 – 361

IEICI is the association which supports external trade between Israel and its economical partners. Following an absence of ten years, Israel will be participating in Anuga 2009 where 16 companies will exhibit a vast range of products, including traditional pastry, jam and honey, spices, salads, cheese, deep-frozen bakery and confectionery products, tinned food and ice cream.

For further information one may visit www.anuga.com.

On behalf of the European Commission, Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry, MC initiates media cooperation and develops brand strategies in order to establish the label EDEN in the tourism sector. Moreover, the agency for integrated communications is responsible for planning and realising the photo competition and the award ceremony as well as for the production of 22 short movies and information leaflets regarding the selected travel destinations.

For further information please visit www.edenineurope.eu .

For information about the European Day of Languages events in your country click here.

The main aim of the “Milk – Drink it up” campaign was to raise awareness of the benefits of milk consumption. Dairy products are packed with calcium, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are much needed by the body for a healthy lifestyle.

The campaign is also aimed at raising awareness of the availability of EU subsidies to schools and other educational establishments to enable them to provide their students with milk and dairy products in general.

The participants were asked to take pictures showing how much they, their family, and friends enjoy milk, yoghurt, cheese, or any other dairy product, all of which form part of a balanced diet, and to upload them on the competition’s website, www.drinkitup.eu. The public voted for the ten best entries, which will be used in printed material across Europe.

The three photographers with the most votes, amongst them Andrea Cremona who ranked second, won a Nintendo Wii system each. The first place went to Benedek Horvath, aged 14, from Hungary, while Tereza Videva, 16, from Bulgaria, placed third. Vincenzo Agius secured the seventh place.

Furthermore, MC is responsible for organising, among other things, an exhibition in front of the Atomium in Brussels as well as cycling events in Stockholm, Budapest and Rome. Additional aspects of MC's integrated communication campaign for the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 include the placement of various advertisements and the dissemination of informational leaflets regarding the EU's goals of climate control.