Sport in the EU

Krisztina Göntér
Újszász, 10 August 2009

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 Contents
 Sport in the Lisbon Treaty -
subsidiarity

 The White Paper on Sport

 Funding opprtunities

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Sport in the Lisbon Treaty - 1

 soft EU competence for sport inserted in Article

149 EC, alongside education, vocational training,
youth
 „complementary, supporting, coordinating action”

 no harmonisation

 “The Union shall contribute to the promotion of

European sporting issues” (policy)

 possibility for Council + European Parliament to

adopt “incentive measures” (programme)

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 The White Paper on sport
 Adopted by European Commission in
July 2007
 first comprehensive EU initiative on
sport – a soft measure!
 strategic approach to pave the way
for the future
 53 actions in the “Pierre de
Coubertin“ Action Plan

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 The White Paper on sport
3 chapters:

1. Societal role of sport

2. The economic dimension of sport
3. The organisation of sport

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 White Paper on Sport
Chapter 1 Societal role of sport
 Public health
 Fight against doping
 Education and training
 Active citizenship and volunteering*
 Social inclusion, integration and
equal opportunities
 External dimension

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 White Paper on Sport
Chapter 2 The economic dimension
of sport
Two objectives:
• Evidence-based sport policies
 European statistical method: measuring the
economic impact of sport
 Regular sport-related European information
surveys (Eurobarometer)
• Public support for sport
 EU study on the financing of grassroots sport as
contribution to sustainable financing models

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 White Paper on Sport
Chapter 3 The organisation of sport
• The specificity of sport
 competition and internal market rules
 free movement and nationality
 Discrimination on grounds of nationality prohibited in the
Treaties
• Players’ agents
 Bad practices in the activities of some agents: instances of
corruption, money laundering and exploitation of underage
players
 evaluate whether action at EU level is necessary
• Licensing systems for clubs
• Media

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 Follow up of the White Paper
 This is a strategic approach to pave
the way for the future
 Dialogue between: Governments,
sport organisations, EU institutions,
experts
 Lisbon Treaty -> sport programme
based on considerations of the White
Paper - not before 2012
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 Funding opportunities
available for sport
 Sport is not yet an EU competence!
 No Sport Programme
 Possibilities in other Programmes
 The Education, Audiovisual and Culture
Executive Agency (EACEA)
• responsible for the management of certain parts of the
EU's programmes in the fields of education, culture and
audiovisual
 http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index.htm

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Programmes and actions managed
by the EACEA
 The Lifelong Learning Programme
• learning opportunities from childhood to old age in
every single life situation
 Erasmus Mundus, Tempus:
• in the field of higher education
 Media
 Culture
 Europe for Citizens
 Youth in Action

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 Preparatory Actions in the field of
sport „ call for proposals
 http://ec.europa.eu/sport/preparatory_actions
 Objective: to prepare future EU actions in
the field of sport, on the basis of priorities
set in the White Paper on Sport.
 This call for proposals will support
transnational projects put forward by
public bodies or civil society organisations
in order to identify and test suitable
networks and good practices in the
field of sport.

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 Preparatory Actions in the field of
sport „ call for proposals - 2
 Deadline: 31 August 2009

 Areas
• (a) Promoting health-enhancing physical activity
• (b) Promoting education and training in sport
• (c) Promoting European fundamental values by encouraging
sport for persons with disabilities
• (d) Promoting gender equality in sport

 Eligible applicants
 Public bodies;
 Civil society organisations

Budget
• EUR 4 000 000.

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Thank you for your
attention

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