Meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 30 November, EU Ministers responsible for sport adopted a resolution calling on the EU27 to “support” what they defined as the characteristics of a “European Sport Model”.
These characteristics are the freedom of association, the organisation in a federation, on a national basis and according to a pyramid structure - “encompassing all levels of sport from grassroots to professional sport” -, the holding of open competitions, guaranteeing the respect of the principle of promotion and relegation.
The Ministers also believe that sport in the EU should play “role in national identity, community building and structures based on voluntary activity” and have “social educational, cultural and health functions”.
The resolution calls on Member States to recognise and support the contribution of volunteers and local communities in the field of sport.
Furthermore, it emphasises the need to promote values through sport and calls on the sport movement to ensure that the organisation of competitions respects fundamental rights.
Several recommendations are also made to the Commission.
The Commission will publish a study on the future of the European Sport Model in early 2022 to feed into future discussions on the subject, announced Commissioner Mariya Gabriel after the meeting.
See the resolution: https://bit.ly/3obM3Br (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)