Brussels, 20/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - EU ministers responsible for sport are meeting informally in Aarhus (Denmark) on 21 and 22 November, chaired by Brian Mikkelsen, Danish Minister for Sport and Culture. Ms. Viviane Reding will represent the Commission.
Ministers should adopt a resolution proposed by the Danish Presidency on the voluntary sector in sport, that stresses: (1) the values of the voluntary sector in sport: the commitment, responsibility and active participation of members that are the essence of voluntary sports clubs, that could contribute to the development of skills important for the understanding of democracy, co-operation, leadership and organisation, states the draft resolution, stressing the importance of protecting and enhancing the European model of sport based on ethical values, cultural and social perspectives and democratic structures; (2) the framework of the voluntary sector in sport: the principle of the autonomy of sports associations is a fundamental condition of the voluntary sector in sport; (3) the future interaction between governments and voluntary sports associations.
Commissioner Reding will present ministers with the results of the 11th European Sports Forum, held in Copenhagen on 7 and 8 November, and which enabled government representatives of the Fifteen, candidate countries and sports organisations to discuss how to intensify dialogue between sports and politics in Europe (see EUROPE of 15 November, p.17). She will also turn to progress in the file relating to "The European Year of Education through Sport 2004", as well as other subjects such as combating drugs in sport.
Ministers will have an exchange of views on the world anti-doping code in sport as proposed by the WAA (World Anti-doping Association). On this, an international conference (that will bring together representatives of governments and sports federations) will be held in Copenhagen from 3 to 5 March 2003 on "Doping in sports". Regarding the controls sportspeople undergo, French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said, in an interview with the French daily "Liberation", dated 19 November, that, "in the long term, the WAA should be the exclusive controller. But for now, the agency is not an international organisation and thus cannot force governments to implement its recommendations. In the meanwhile," the minister goes on, "we could at least try to align our stances in Europe. And already we could include sport in the next treaty, as it was forgotten in those of Maastricht and Amsterdam". The lack of a legal basis for sports in the treaty poses increasing problems, a Community source agreed, as it is increasingly difficult to engage in action not only against drugs but also actions to encourage sport.
As a reminder, the world anti-drugs code has as aim to align efforts in combating doping in all sports and at all governmental levels: it is a basic document that will be a framework for policies, rules and regulation for combating drugs in sports organisations and within public authorities. The WAA has, moreover, said that it would continue to strive for a broad consultative process to perfect the process, of which one of the main objectives is for the world code to be operational and take effect by early-2004, before the Olympic Games of Athens the same year. Ministers will also discuss the contribution of Member States to the WAA in 2002 and 2003 (see evolutions in the different stances in EUROPE of 22 March, p.10).