"European Voice", the weekly newspaper published by the British “The Economist” group, nominated all of them for the election of the European of the year. So far, so good. However, the race for the title has a flaw: With its categories “National politician of the Year”, “Commissioner of the Year”, “Member of the European Parliament of the Year” and “EU official of the Year” it comes off as fresh and attractive as a piece of crispbread. Fortunately, this has also been noticed by the people at the Economist, which is why they added as a fifth – and most important – category the "Inspiration of the Year" and nominated Bertrand Piccard for this award.

We hope now, of course, that all of you are active electors who will vote for Bertrand and his inspiring vision of Solar Impulse. The closing date for voting is 31 October.