Interior Minister Schäuble opens the informal meeting of EU sport ministers

On Monday afternoon, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, opened the informal meeting of EU sport ministers in Stuttgart under Germany’s EU Council Presidency. “Sport has a huge social impact and represents values. Together we want to strengthen the role of sport in Europe and resolutely fight threats such as violence and doping”, Schäuble said at the beginning of the two-day meeting in the capital of Baden-Württemberg. Delegations and ministers from 26 Member States followed the invitation of the German sports minister. Ján Figel’, the EU Commissioner responsible for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism, also attends the meeting.

The agenda includes subjects such as sport and economics, integration and sport, and combating doping. The first day of the conference started with a review of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Under this agenda item, the prominent guest speaker and World Cup OC President Franz Beckenbauer, together with OC Vice-President Wolfgang Niersbach, presented the World Cup campaign with the motto “A time to make friends”. The background to their deliberations was the possible general implications for the organization of major sporting events.

These are the subjects that will be discussed at the informal meeting of EU sport ministers in Stuttgart:

• Sport and Economics
  The relation between sport and economics is one of the priorities of the German EU Council Presidency in the area of sport. There is a growing interest among Member States to analyze and learn more about the economic effects of sport, its role in national economy, its dynamics and, above all, its impact on the labour market. A sport satellite account could be a suitable instrument for collecting relevant data.
• Sport and Violence
  The riots early this year, for example in the German city of Leipzig and in Catania in Italy, are the reason why the EU ministers responsible for sport are closely studying the issue of sport and violence. Counter-measures range from preventing violence – including social and integrative activities such as fan projects – to stopping violence through police measures.
• Integration through Sport
  Sport is an excellent means of achieving integration, because sport knows no language barriers. Germany is currently preparing a sustained National Integration Plan, which is to be presented in the middle of this year. Sport clubs and integration commissioners provide a fundamental contribution to integration. It seems to be worth considering whether socio-integrative skills should be certified.
• EU White Paper on Sport
  The European Commission plans to present its White Paper on Sport in Europe early in the second half of this year. The White Paper is intended to analyze and discuss the role of sport in society, the economic dimensions of sport and organizational particularities. Also, proposals for improving European cooperation in the area of sport will be presented. Thus, the White Paper will help advance efforts to this effect made by Member States as well as by European and national sport associations and institutions. Moreover, the general public and sport associations can submit their comments on the White Paper in an online survey of the Commission until 5 April 2007.
• “Combating Doping”
  Doping is an international phenomenon. Therefore, with a view to achieving synergies, the German Council Presidency supports efforts aimed at establishing a network of the autonomous national anti-doping agencies (NADAs). Only with an international approach in the realms of sport and politics will it be possible to fight the plague of doping.