Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has received the "European of the Year" award from the Brussels-based European Voice weekly for his efforts to seek compromises in the enlarged bloc.
The veteran leader won respect for securing a "yes" in a referendum on the EU constitution even though it was earlier rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands.
The master negotiator was close to clinching a deal on the EU's 2007-2013 budget at a summit in June when Luxembourg held the bloc's rotating presidency. It was scuppered by a row between Britain and France over the future of agricultural aid and London's rebate from EU coffers.
EU leaders will try again to reach a deal in December.
The award was given on Tuesday at a ceremony in Brussels.
Poland's outgoing President Aleksander Kwasniewski received the "Statesman of the Year" award for mediation during Ukraine's "Orange Revolution", which swept pro-democracy Viktor Yushchenko to power. Yushchenko was named "Non-EU Citizen of the Year."
EU Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuania's former finance minister, was "Commissioner of the Year".