Brussels, 03/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Education and Culture, called on the governments of EU Member States and more especially on their Education Ministers (meeting in Council on 24 and 25 November in Brussels) to launch actions in schools to attract youngsters to sport, but also to make the sports federations and clubs take measures in this respect. The appeal comes within the framework of preparations for the 2004 European Year of Education through Sport (EYES) (see EUROPE of 31 October, p.13). Very little emphasis is placed on sport in EU Member States and young people have a totally insufficient physical activity, the Commissioner explained. She specified that the same is true in the ten future Member States that aim solely at training Olympic medal winners. Ms Reding also urged for an effort to be made to teach young people how to live and eat in a healthy way, among other things to combat the growing phenomenon of obesity with the consequences that it entails for health (cardiovascular disease especially). Sport becomes a real matter of public health, the Commissioner notes, recalling the principle of "healthy in body, healthy in mind". Furthermore, sport encourages values such as respect of others and respect of rules, solidarity, group discipline and community life, tolerance and fair-play. The Commission, the Council and the Parliament have been working for over three years now on this European Year but only EUR 12 million have been allocated to help develop projects that will be accomplished in Member States via public and private initiatives, Ms Reding recalls.
In order to motivate the young, an "All-Star Team" has been created to sponsor EYES and support the information campaign and EYES promotion conducted by the EU. The team includes: Anky van Grunsven (Netherlands - dressage), Franz Klammer (Austria - Alpine skiing), Rosa Mota (Portugal - marathon), Frederik De Burghgraeve (Belgium - swimming), Marc Girardelli (Luxembourg - alpine skiing), Theresa Zabell Lucas (Spain, and also MEP - sailing), Kuslcar Gyözö (Hungary - fencing) and Esther Weber-Kranz (Germany - fencing). Speaking on behalf of this team before the press, marathon champion Rosa Mota (who began this discipline in order to combat her asthma) said that 2004 EYES provided an opportunity to teach children and young adults the value of sport including team spirit and self-discipline. Sport, she noted, can also help tie relations with the rest of the world and thus incites young people to discover others.
The Year 2004 will include major sports events such as ski jumping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany (1 January), the European Euro 2004 football championship in Portugal (from 12 June to 14 July), the Olympic Games in Athens (from 13 to 29 August) and the Paralympics in Athens (from 17 to 28 September). This year there will also be preparations for the Helsinki championships in 2005 and the Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. EYES will begin with the New Year Concert in Vienna, allowing one to conclude that "culture is to the service of sport", Viviane Reding said. She felt the year 2004 would be a great year for education and the celebration of sport as an instrument of citizenship.