Brussels, 18/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - At an informal meeting in Brdo on Monday 17 March, European sports ministers, chairpersons of national olympic committees of EU member states and the Western Balkans, and representatives of the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees adopted a joint declaration, “Social Significance and Dialogue in Sport” (see EUROPE 9624), in which they undertook to enhance cultural dialogue through sport. They highlighted sport's socialising role and the beneficial effect of sports associations through a responsible and active approach by all stakeholders. The educational role of sport was also underlined and ministers felt that sport, thus, should have its due place in national curricula. Aside from its beneficial role to children's mental and physical health, sport helps develop children's personalities and personal talents, while bringing people together and helping social inclusion, they said. “With the adoption of the Joint Declaration, we have made remarkable progress in the area of sport, since this is the first time that we have joined together with civil authorities to underline the importance of sport in society and call for closer cooperation between all the responsible institutions,” said Milan Zver, Slovenian Minister for Sport and Education, who chaired the meeting. He added that enhanced dialogue with civil society was “urgently needed”, sport being “a multi-facetted domain with many positive effects”.
In the morning session, ministers emphasised that the White Paper and the “Pierre de Coubertin” Action Plan, which were adopted by the European Commission on 11 July 2007, had to be actively implemented. Minsters also discussed a European sports programme, which, Zver said, would provide “a new dimension and new opportunities to progress”. They also wanted the EU to play a more active role in the World Anti-Doping Organisation and highlighted the role of the new working group, which will help coordinate action and improve cooperation in combating doping at EU level. They also discussed the role of non-profit-making sports organisations, the help of the voluntary sector, the autonomy of sport compared with other policies and building up joint statistics to measure the economic impact of sport. Zver then presented a prize to the ABA Sidro NLB regional basketball league to mark its contribution to the promotion of sport throughout the world. Moreover, with 2008 being the year of intercultural dialogue, the league provided a good example in this area, the Slovenian Presidency pointed out. European Education, Training, Culture and Sports Commissioner Jan Figel was pleased with the meeting. Over the last 50 years, sport has been gradually showing the important role it plays in society and, in Brdo, the representatives of the olympic committees reached broad agreement on a joint sports policy at European level, he said. He also hoped that the meeting would mark the start of a positive long-term dialogue among all stakeholders. The White Paper on sport and the reference to sport in the Lisbon Treaty formed a sound basis for this dialogue, he added, congratulating Portugal, Germany and Slovenia for the importance they had given to the sports sector during their presidencies. Although the arrangements in the White Paper were not an obligation on member states, they help increase the importance of sport in Europe, said Zver. “I would like our meeting with the chairpersons of national olympic committees to become a regular event,” he added.
EU ministers and olympic committees oppose boycott of Beijing Olympics
On the sidelines of the conference, Sports ministers and chairpersons of EU national olympic committees said that they were firmly opposed to a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games, following Chinese repression in Tibet. They said that sport should not be linked to politics. The boycotts of previous Games had shown that the impact of such action was limited and was harmful to the Olympic movement, he argued. Political matters have to be resolved by the United Nations and other international organisations, said Togay Bayatli, a member of the European Olympic Committee, adding that it was the athletes who would be the major losers if there were to be a boycott or any other political action. (I.L.)