Competition rules

Article 1: What is the theme of the competition?

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs is organising a team-based photo competition entitled 'The euro: What does it mean to us?'. Each team must take and submit an original photo illustrating the team's vision of the euro. The image must be accompanied by a short explanatory caption. Each participating team has to explain in its submission form why a specific photo has been chosen and what is the idea they are trying to get across with their photo.

The co-ordination of the competition will be done in co-operation with the event management company VERVE under the responsibility of the Managing Director.

Verve
72 Upper Leeson Street
Dublin 4
IRELAND
Tel: 0 1 637 5160
Fax: 0 1 668 6031
Email: ireland@euroinphoto.eu

Article 2: Who can participate?

2.1. Young people from 14 to 18 years old, residing in the 27 Member States of the European Union may take part in the competition.

2.2. This competition is not open to the families of staff of the EU institutions or the TiPiK consortium.

Article 3: How can I participate in the competition?

3.1 Participants are required to form teams of at least two or maximum three young people and one adult who will be responsible for the team throughout the project, including accompanying them when travelling to the awards ceremony. An adult may supervise several teams.

3.2 The registration form must be filled in and submitted online. It is recommended that the supervising adults do this at the earliest opportunity, so they can receive any new information about the competition.

3.3 The photo and submission form must be sent electronically to the company "VERVE", no later than Wednesday 31 March 2010. You are strongly recommended to send it as early as possible to ensure that it arrives in time. For submissions sent by post, the postmark will be used as proof that the photo was sent on time.

Participants must keep a copy of the documents they send.

Article 4: What do I have to do?

Participants are required to take a photo illustrating what the euro means to them. Participants may use their imagination when interpreting the theme of the competition.
To participate in the competition:

First fill in the registration form online (you will submit your photo later);
Once your photo is ready to be sent, fill in the submission form on the Competition website;
Send your photo and your completed submission form by e-mail or post to the National Coordinator (as mentioned in Article 1) no later than 31 March 2010.

The requirements for the photo are as follows:

4.1 The photos may be in full colour or in black and white and taken with a film or digital camera. The photos may be edited by the participant. This includes colour or composition adjustments, montage, collage, re-touching, re-sharpening and correction of the tonal value.
4.2 Photos can be submitted digitally or on paper. The digital photos must be submitted by e-mail to the e-mail address ireland@euroinphoto.eu in the following format:

would be better as "4.961 x 3.508 pixels in 300 dpi or 20.671 x 14.617 pixels in 72 dpi in any common photo formats (such as jpg, tif, png). The e-mail must be smaller than 10 Megabytes.

Printed copies (on paper) must be sent to the national co-ordinator, VERVE, in A3 (portrait or landscape) format - 29,7 cm × 42 cm.

4.3 Contributions must have a title and must include a short explanatory caption consisting of a maximum of 150 characters. Participants have to fill in the related fields in the submission form.
4.4 All photos must be original. No copyright material may be used in the entries.
4.5 You must be able to obtain written consent if you are taking a photograph of a person.
4.6 Each team may submit only one photo.
4.7 The photos of the European winners may be used for future European campaigns on the euro or the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Article 5: What about copyrights and intellectual property?

The final work must be done for the sole purpose of the competition. Participants shall be entirely responsible for their works. Winning participants shall agree to transfer non-exclusive distribution and reproduction rights to the European Commission at no charge. The European Commission shall therefore be entitled to use, reproduce, adapt, publish and distribute the winning works at its entire discretion. We respect the copyright ownership of all submitted images, which continues to belong to the photographer. We also respect the intellectual property rights by adding the phrase "Design by" with the name of the winning photographer in small font on a suitable place of the respective reproductions. The works will not be returned. Non-winning works will be destroyed.

Article 6: How are the winners selected?

6.1 The works will be selected by a jury made up of 7 people: a representative of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, a representative of another Directorate-General of the European Commission, a representative of a national ministry, a communications expert, a photographer and a young person actively involved in a youth organisation.

6.2 Pictures will be judged according to their relevance to the given topic, the originality of expression, the visual impact and the aesthetic appeal of the photo.

6.3 There will be 27 national winning teams. Out of the 27 winners, 7 EU winning teams will be selected. Of the 7 EU winning teams, the team with the best score will receive the first prize. All 7 teams will be invited to the prize-giving ceremony in Brussels.

Article 7: When will the winners be selected?

The winning teams will be selected in April 2010. All winners will be contacted personally and the photos of the national winners will be displayed on the website of the European Commission in the Member State concerned and on the website of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

The award ceremony for the 7 EU winning teams will be held in Brussels in May 2010.

Article 8: What are the prizes?

All of the 27 national winning team members will receive a Pen Drive – professional 30,7cm (12") graphic tablet for illustrating, sketching, industrial design, photo editing or webpage design.

The 7 EU winning teams will be invited for a trip to Brussels in May 2010 to discover all the city has to offer, including the European institutions, and to attend the awards ceremony. For each of these seven teams, travel and accommodation will be provided for three young people and one accompanying adult. The photos of the national winners will be displayed on the website of the European Commission in the Member State concerned and on the website of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

Each member of the team with the best score of the 7 EU winning teams will each receive the first prize of a Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera, with 18-55 mm VR Lens Kit, Sigma zoom 70-300, 4gb card and bag.

Article 9: Responsibility

Organisers cannot be held responsible for the cancellation, postponement or modification of the competition due to unforeseen circumstances, nor can they be held responsible for any theft, loss, delay or damage during the transport of photos. Furthermore, the dates mentioned in Articles 3 and 7 may be changed due to organisational reasons or unforeseen circumstances. In such cases, the participants shall be advised as soon as possible (hence the need to register as soon as possible).

Article 10: Acceptance of the rules

Participation in the competition shall imply full acceptance of these rules.

Article 11: Data protection

Here is an important notice on the protection of personal data.