Ljubljana Declaration Adopted as Basis for EU Sport Policy

Brdo pri Kranju, 17 March

A joint informal meeting of EU sports ministers and chairs of national Olympic committees (NOC) closed at Brdo pri Kranju on Monday with the adoption of the "Ljubljana Declaration", which presents the basis for a joint EU policy for cooperation between the civil society and government bodies in the field of sports.

Slovenia is a small country, which made it possible to hold an even more relaxed debate and come to this historic document in the field of sport, European Olympic Committee President Patrick Hickey told the press after the meeting.
European Commissioner Jan Figel said that the past 50 years had brought the realisation that sport had a very important role in society and at Brdo representatives of governments of Olympic committees had reached broad consensus on forming a joint EU sports policy.
The priorities highlighted at the meeting included the fight against doping, recreation and non-profit sport organisations, aid to volunteers, the autonomy of sport, and plans for developing statistical standards for measuring the economic effects of sport.
The participants of the meeting called for a reinclusion of the European Commission in anti-doping activities though the setting up of a new task group. Plans also include the establishing of a European sport information network with the help of Slovenia as an example of best practice.
Cooperation between individual sectors of different states needs to be strengthened, professional and expert training in sport needs to be facilitated and included into a European qualification system and the importance and role of sport in intercultural dialogue and the inclusion of individuals into society needs to be promoted, the participants also concluded.
"We expressed our positions clearly and coordinated them for the concluding declaration. This brings to an end the 18-month programme of the EU presiding Portugal, Germany and Slovenia in the field of sport. Last year the European Commission published a White Paper on Sport, which was the basis for all our work that followed," Slovenian Education and Sport Minister Milan Zver explained.
The White Paper on Sport gives special prominence to the Pierre de Coubertin action plan of priority tasks. This plan was also discussed at Brdo, with the participants defining solidarity as the basis for future work and envisaging the drawing up of programme of sport in the EU by 2012.

Ljubljana Declaration Adopted as Basis for EU Sport Policy

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