A British journalist has been awarded €5000 after coming first in the online category of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism.

James Clive-Matthews won the award for an article on his blog, EUtopia, "What percentage of laws come from the EU?".

He was praised by the jury for "extraordinary research work". A spokesman for the jury said: "Mr Clive-Matthews is one of the few bloggers covering the EU seriously and has carried out a statistical and comparative study which can be read with lot of pleasure."

The award, now in its third year, aims to promote ciritical and impartial journalism about the European Parliament. Prizes are given in four categories: written press, radio, TV and the internet.

The four winners were selected by the jury from a list of 76 national finalists. The written press award went to Witold Szablowski of the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza for his article "Today two bodies will wash ashore". Kajsa Norell and Nuri Kino of Sveriges Radio Ekot (Sweden) won the radio award for an investigative report on EU financial support to Turkey, and Zsolt Németh of MTV Hungary took home the TV award category for his "Euforia" programme.

In 2008, BBC journalist Shirin Wheeler won the Television Award for the weekly programme "The Record:Europe". Wheeler donated the prize money on behalf of the BBC to the Rory Peck Trust, which offers grants to the families of freelance journalists killed or injured whilst on an assignment. The Trust also provides grants to freelancers for training.

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).