I'm interested in hearing first hand from non-UK EuroGAF whether this competition is taken seriously in other countries, or whether everywhere treats it like a joke like we do.
Eastern Europe in particular takes the contest super massively serious. Austria is kinda half-half on it, many think it's a joke, others think it's a cool thing. During the Eastern European win streak between 2001 and 2009, a lot of Western Europe thought only Eastern Europeans could win now cause they're pushing points to each other, but then Germany won back in 2010, and Western Europe woke up and realized that if you don't send rubbish to the contest, you can win, too.