By Thea Pieridou
Head of the European Parliament Office in Cyprus
Applications open until Friday, 31 July 2026
The application period for the 6th European Parliament Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism is now open. The Prize was established in honour of Maltese investigative journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was renowned for her work exposing corruption and was assassinated in 2017.
The annual Prize seeks to recognise outstanding journalistic work that promotes or defends the European Union’s fundamental principles and values, including human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights.
Applications may be submitted via the website https://daphnejournalismprize.eu/ until Friday, 31 July 2026.
The Prize carries a cash award of €20,000 and is open to professional journalists or teams of journalists whose work has been published or broadcast by media organisations based in the European Union. The winner is selected by an independent jury comprising representatives of the press and civil society from all 27 EU Member States, as well as representatives of Europe's leading journalism associations. The award ceremony is expected to take place around 16 October, the anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination.
The 2025 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism was awarded to the investigative journalism platform Follow the Money, which uncovered the hidden networks through which Russia has been circumventing sanctions on its oil trade. Working in collaboration with 13 media organisations and 40 journalists, the platform revealed how shipowners from Western countries earned more than US$6 billion by selling 230 ageing oil tankers to Russia's shadow fleet.
The Prize and its €20,000 award demonstrate the European Parliament's tangible support for investigative journalism and underscore the importance it places on press freedom as an essential pillar of every democratic society.
