On Wednesday 19 March, the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education held an exchange of views on the future of the European Sport Model and the role of EU policies in its development.
The MEPs discussed governance, access to sport for all and funding.
The rapporteur and author of the own-initiative report on the subject, Bogdan Zdrojewski (EPP, Polish), who called for the definition of a clear strategy for sport in Europe, stressed its economic and social potential.
“The sports sector offers considerable potential for the economy and for individuals. It alone accounts for 3% of the EU’s GDP and employs nearly seven million people”, he recalled.
He called for closer cooperation between European institutions and sports federations in order to preserve the values of transparency, fairness and inclusiveness that are characteristic of the European sports model.
The representative of the Polish Presidency of the Council agreed, saying that “sport is a public good with great social potential, and every effort must therefore be made to develop a model of sport that will strengthen the universality of sport”.
It was also stressed that amateur sport, or “grassroots sport”, should be given greater consideration, particularly in light of the advantages enjoyed by professional sport, especially at the highest level.
The European Commission’s representative, Giorgio Guazzugli Marini, emphasised that one of the characteristics of the European model is “a principle of solidarity, particularly financial solidarity between elite sport and grassroots sport”.
The shadow rapporteurs mainly raised the issue of funding, particularly for amateur sport and local initiatives.
As Sabrina Repp (S&D, German), representing Hannes Heide (S&D, Austrian), put it, there is every interest in preserving the specifically European values of “solidarity between grassroots and professional sport and the promotion of women’s sport”. “In peripheral or isolated regions, every volunteer activity means valuable access for our children to physical activities and sport”, she said, expressing concern about the disappearance of these activities.
“When we talk about grassroots and amateur sport, of course, we also have to talk about the redistribution of funds. We need to allocate more of the funds that are used at the top of the pyramid, so to speak, to make them appear more equitably at the bottom of the pyramid”, added Bulgarian MEP Nikola Minchev (Renew Europe).
Nikolaos Pappas (The Left, Greek), pointed to the persistence of inequalities. “Sport must be accessible to all, without distinction. It is vital to provide social cover for athletes, particularly in terms of insurance and pensions”, he argued. He also condemned the difficulties encountered by sportswomen, whose contracts do not always provide for maternity leave, for example. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)