The Thursday ceremony will begin at 20:00 and, exceptionally, will take place at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Görlitz. Among the invited guests are, among others, the Prime Minister of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich and the authorities of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship – the Deputy Voivode of Lower Silesia Joanna Bronowicka and the Marshal of Lower Silesia Cezary Przybylski. The laudation will be delivered by Dr Norbert Röttgen, former Federal Minister and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag.

Those interested in attending the ceremony in person are invited to the Church of Peter and Paul (the church is located on the hillside, by the Old Town Bridge). The audience will be admitted until 19:40 (non-negotiable deadline). It is worth taking advantage of this opportunity, because the presentation of the Bridge Award is usually a ticketed event, available to a limited number of guests. This year's ceremony breaks that rule and is therefore exceptional in this respect as well.

For reference, we quote the justification for selecting Dr Jean-Claude Juncker as the Laureate of the 2014 Europa–City of Zgorzelec/Görlitz International Bridge Award, presented by the Society for Awarding the Bridge Award:

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker was and remains one of the figures who have influenced the process of European integration encompassing the old and new members of the European Union over the past 20 years.

For him, Europe was and remains not only an internal market for goods and services but – first and foremost – a space for life, decision-making and development for its citizens, in which people seek opportunities for cultural and intellectual mutual understanding. In his view, citizens from outside Europe should also be included in this search.

Jean-Claude Juncker advocated and continues to advocate the idea of a Europe united beyond the borders of nation-states and ethnic groups, beyond religions, economic differences and historical processes (and resentments). For years, he has served it with his political experience and influence.

From 1995 to December 2013, Jean-Claude Juncker was Prime Minister of Luxembourg; from 2005 to 2013, he was President of the Euro Group and the longest-serving member of the European Council. He had a decisive influence on the shape of the Maastricht Treaty and is an advocate of a Europe focused on stability and growth. His sharp, experience-based analyses of economic and political possibilities always took human and social aspects into account. He demanded European minimum standards in labour law, for example protection against dismissal and minimum wages, and fought against social and wage dumping.

The Society for Awarding the Europa–City of Zgorzelec/Görlitz International Bridge Award honours Jean-Claude Juncker as a great statesman whose particular and personal goal is understanding between the nations of Europe based on freedom and democracy. He devoted his activities to this vision for more than two decades, even in the face of opponents. Without him and his perseverance, the “new Europe” would not have become what it is today.

Renata Burdosz/ii