Gdansk, 19/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - European sports experts met in Gdansk on the banks of the Baltic Sea on 14-15 December to discuss sports funding. Under the chairmanship of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, they discussed the economy of sport “at the closest level to the citizens, in particular at the level of non-profit making bodies”. The meeting provided the opportunity to take note of the findings of the study ordered by the European Commission since “comparable data are needed so that policies can be drafted based on definite information and so that sports funding can be supported”.
The EU is looking to find “sustainable sports funding”. The Commission has undertaken to assess the funding of grassroots sport, “which will make it easier to determine the measures that need to be taken”, and the possibilities for consolidating financial solidarity mechanisms in the sports sector. With this in mind, sports directors discussed possible participation in the “Erasmus for all” project, “where, we hope, sport will feature in the forthcoming multiannual financial framework”. (VW/transl.rt)