Second round in 2019:
BigTopLabel prizes were handed over in the European Parliament, for the second time on the 2nd of October, in 2019. This year, another three ensembles, the Finnish Sirkus Finlandia, the Swiss Zirkus Knie and the Hungarian National Circus led by József Richter Jr. received the recognition. Vice-President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala and, at the invitation of the initiator MEP István Ujhelyi, Honorary President of the Circus World Federation, Princess Stéphanie of Monaco was also present at the awarding ceremony at the European Parliament. Prior to the event, István Ujhelyi and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco had a dedicated meeting with the new Commissioner for culture Ms. Mariya Gabriel and they also met President of the European Parliament David Sassoli.
MEP István Ujhelyi’s speach was the followings:
“Dear Guests, dear Colleagues, three years ago, at a parliamentary conference here in Brussels, I talked about the need for a European quality assurance system for the circus world and the need to show the difference between good and bad circuses. Many people in the audience shrugged their shoulders, thinking it was only empty words from a politician. I also spoke about the fact that, for over a decade, there had been no comprehensive survey made of the situation of European circuses. I said I would initiate a study of the circus industry with the European Commission. Again, many people shrugged their shoulders, saying nothing would come of it. Well, the European Commission survey is almost complete now, and we are handing over BigTopLabel honors for the second time already. Thank you for being with us; thank you for celebrating exemplary quality and outstanding performance together with us. Ladies and gentlemen, the circus provides millions with quality entertainment and a living for tens of thousands of people. The circus is an integral part of European culture and the European economy and deserves the appropriate attention and recognition. BigTopLabel is just one, but a very important step in safeguarding and strengthening the value that traditional circus art represents. However, it is important for us to take further steps. As a Member of the European Parliament, I consider it essential that more attention be paid to education, so that social circuses promoting social inclusion in the EU receive greater support and that circus education be a part of public education in all Member States. Quality and exemplary performance can be of great help to us in this mission. For this reason, I am asking the circuses that have been awarded the BigTopLabel recognition to set up a dedicated team to help other circuses catch up; a team to strengthen our lobbying power with EU institutions. Naturally, I also count on the help of European Circus Association in this project. Allow me to thank Her Highness Princess Stéphanie and President Urs Pilz for supporting my ambassadorship for circus art and enabling me, among others, to further promote the outstanding Hungarian circus tradition. I would also like to thank Commissioner Tibor Navracsics for his support, as the outgoing Commissioner was a true friend of the circus world. I trust that we will have similarly good cooperation with the new Commissioner responsible for this field, Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. And, you should know me by now, these are not just empty political words. We will carry on! Thank you for being here, thank you for celebrating with us!”
Policy advisor Bernadett Petri on behalf of current EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics told the followings:
“On behalf of Commissioner Navracsics responsible for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport I would like to say thank you for the invitation for the annual Award Ceremony for the BigTopLabel, the quality assurance scheme for the Circus sector in Europe. I also would like to express the appreciation of the Commissioner to Member of the European Parliament István Ujhelyi for initiating the idea to create this independent quality assurance scheme and for his commitment to promote circus art, which is a vivid part of Europe’s cultural heritage. Circus culture has an integral part of European culture and economy. Besides its artistic value, it has an important economic impact, including the broader contribution to creativity, innovation and social inclusion. The indicators of the BigTopLabel cover these aspects very well and we would like to encourage the organisers to create a community among certified circuses and to turn the BigTop Label into a real quality guide. Last year the award ceremony of the BigTopLabel took place during the European Year of Cultural Heritage that we have been celebrating very successfully across the continent. This year we are working on the creation of the legacy for the European Year of Cultural Heritage. As a part of it, a first-ever overarching study combined with a survey on circus has been launched by the Commission with the objective of gathering socio-economic data and analyzing the current situation of Circus in Europe. The study is now in finalization phase and the results will be presented very soon. The European Commission will keep funding the contemporary circus activities through different programmes and actions such as the Creative Europe programme, the EU’s funding programme for the cultural and creative sectors. We would like to encourage the circus sector to keep participating in the policy making process under the new European Commission as well and help our work for a shared cultural heritage by underlining the link between the past and the future and bridging between centuries and generations. Finally yet importantly, let me convey the congratulations of Commissioner Navracsics to the three laureates of this annual ceremony. It is a great pleasure that one of the BigTopLabel nominated circuses is Hungarian this year. Thank you for your high quality work that can contribute that the modern circus culture get the recognition it deserves due to its distinguished place in European culture. Thank you very much for your attention.”
