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Department for Culture Media and Sport

european sport

These include:

• Meetings of EU and CoE Sports Ministers and officials
• Liaison with EU and CoE Member States on specific sports related issues, such as anti-doping
• Responding to policy initiatives from EU and CoE Member States, and European sports federations

European Union | Council of Europe

European Union

Sport policy is a matter for national governments and the EU currently has no legal basis for taking direct action in sport, although this will change if and when the Lisbon Treaty is ratified. The EU Commission has increasingly seen the value sport can bring to the delivery of a range of EU policy objectives, such as health and social inclusion. Sport’s immense popularity throughout Europe also makes it attractive to EU institutions as a means of engaging with individual citizens and making the EU more relevant and accessible to them.

The Commission published a White Paper on Sport in July 2007, following lengthy consultation on sport in the EU.  The Commission’s White Paper states that its ’overall objective is to give strategic orientation on the role of sport in Europe, to encourage debate on specific problems, enhance the visibility of sport in EU policy making and to raise public awareness of the needs and specifies of the sector.’

The White Paper covers three broad areas:

• The social function of sport (e.g. volunteering, health, equality and social inclusion)
• The economic impact of sport (e.g. freedom of movement for sportspeople)
• The organisation of sport in Europe (e.g. promotion of good governance)

The Government welcomes the White Paper as a useful platform from which to consider and address the many issues confronting sport in the EU. However, the White Paper raises many issues which require further, detailed discussion with stakeholders and the Government therefore intends to continue its dialogue with interested parties on this matter. Both the UK and European Parliaments are also showing a close interest. The Government’s Explanatory Memorandum, detailing its initial response to the Paper’s proposals, is available on Parliament’s website.

DCMS will be working closely with other departments, the Commission and sports stakeholders to ascertain the impact of the Treaty on the role of sport in the EU and the provisions outlined in the White Paper on Sport.

Council of Europe

The primary aim of the Council of Europe (CoE) is to defend human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. It promotes these values in sport by overseeing the Conventions on Anti-Doping and Spectator Violence and Misbehaviour at Sports Events. It also acts to maintain the integrity and the virtues of sport through the Sport for All Charter and the Code of Sport Ethics. 

Sport, amongst other items, was removed from the CoE’s budget at the end of 2006 (activities within the scope of the CoE Conventions on Anti-Doping and Spectator Violence were unaffected). At its 117th session on 11 May 2007, the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution CM/Res (2007)8 creating the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), of which the UK is currently a member.

The objective of the EPAS is to establish international standards and progress sports policies within the CoE framework, and to promote and make sport healthier, fairer and better governed by working with international and national sports organisations, sports federations and sports NGOs.

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