Brussels, 13/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - As Viviane Reding highlighted after the meeting in Brussels on 12 November of the EU Sports Ministers under the Belgian President, the Flemish Community's Sports Minister, Bert Anciaux, the idea was to give Europe the option of taking concerted joint action against doping, strengthen European sport and its social aspects and enter continued and intense dialogue with the sporting world. For the first time in the history of the EU, the Sports Ministers unanimously approved a "Statement pertaining to Sport Safety, the Fight against Doping and the Specific Function of Sport within the Context of Community Integration". The Ministers took note of the proposal put forward on behalf of the Belgian Presidency by Rudy Demotte, Sports Minister for the French-speaking Community in Belgium, for an action plan for women in sport, and unanimously pledged total support for Ms Reding's proposal that 2004 be the "European Year of Education through Sport". German Sports Minister Otto Schily stressed the importance of television coverage for sports for the disabled at the Salt Lake City Games. The Greek Minister Nickos Exarchos reported back on preparations for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
A summary of the outcome of the ministerial meeting:
1. The fight against doping. Ministers felt it was necessary to take joint action in the fight against doping in close collaboration with the sporting world. Mr Anciaux called on his colleagues and Ms Reding to take concrete measures leading to such coordination, such as mutual recognition of sports sanctions taken by individual Member States or federations; uniform doping lists and control procedures; closer collaboration with the pharmaceutical sector; and better information exchange. To arrive at these results, efforts will have to be stepped up at local, regional and European level as well as at the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). Ministers welcomed the announcement by Ms Reding that she would be publishing a European Action Plan in the spring on the fight against doping that would focus on the coordination of police activities and uniform procedures.
2. Funding the WADA. Bert Anciaux noted that from 2002 onwards the public authorities will - in addition to the IOC - be responsible for 50% of WADA's total budget. The Europe is expected to pay 47.5% of the total; in other words the EU will pay approximately EUR 3.5 million in 2002 (72.5% of the total European share). Viviane Reding said that the EU already financed projects (like athletes' health passports, training WADA observers and a multimedia educational tool on the fight against doping) to a value of EUR 2 million but the EU could only fund the European share of WADA funding if certain issues were resolved; in other words, if WADA published a serious budget for the next five years, allowed Europe to have the option of blocking budget decisions and if Europe is given suitable representation on the WADA. She added that word had to be carried out at home too - everyone had to take action at the local, regional or European level to fight doping and that some serious work lay ahead to regulate laboratories and progress in research. She concluded that the EU had to be present on the world arena and deal with issues at European level with the WADA.
During the final press conference, Ms Reding stressed the importance of preparing young people for voluntary work in sport and reminding them of sporting values like respect for other people and fair play. She felt it was vital to build sporting links with other continents, particularly around the Mediterranean. Ms Reding announced that the Commission would be organising a huge conference would be held at the end of 2002 on women and sport around the Mediterranean in order to transmit messages and encourage women by granting them importance on the podium. Rudy Demotte had mixed feelings about this event, mentioning frustration that progress was only being made very slowly in terms of moving towards an anti-doping policy, but was happy that sport would be studied in-depth in terms of building bridges between entities and cultures and also in terms of equal opportunities for men and women. Mr Demotte raised a few common problem areas like the differences between men and women in terms of participation in sport (linked to questions of childcare and the like, he added); under-representation of women in decision-making in sports federations; and the image of sportswomen (where there is greater emphasis on aesthetics for women, he noted). Summing up, Rudy Demotte announced that a survey would be carried out with the future Presidencies of the European Union with the aim of encouraging women to participate in sport.