Bekavac is one of the 12 winners of the prize which the EU has been awarding for seven years to the best authors and Europe's biggest rising stars in literature.
Bekavac won the EUPL for his second novel, "Viljevo".
Attending the award-giving ceremony was also Croatian Culture Minister Berislav Sipus.
The award is presented by the European Commission, in cooperation with the European Booksellers Federation, the European Writers' Council and the Federation of European Publishers.
It is bestowed on exceptional literary talents who in the past five years have published two to five books, and it covers 36 countries participating in the Creative Europe programme designed to finance the cultural and creative sectors - 28 EU member-countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Publishers are encouraged to apply for funding for translations through the Creative Europe programme so that the winning authors' works can be translated into other European languages and thus find new markets. That way, along with the prize, which amounts to 5,000 euros, the winners are also given the opportunity to present themselves to a broader European audience.
The EUPL was launched in 2009. Since then, the EU has secured funding for the translation of 56 works by 59 winning authors into 20 different European languages.
The winners also have the opportunity to present their works at leading European books fairs such as those in Frankfurt, London, Gothenburg and Brussels.
The previous Croatian winners of the prize are Mila Pavicevic (2009) and Lada Zigo (2012).