At the informal meeting of EU ministers responsible for sport chaired by Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, participants today discussed issues in the fields of “sport and economics” and “sport and violence”. EU Commissioner Ján Figel’ took part in the discussions. At the opening session the president and vice-president of the World Cup Organizing Committee, Franz Beckenbauer and Wolfgang Niersbach, reported on the 2006 Football World Cup.
The sport ministers and delegations from 26 EU Member States and EU Commissioner Ján Figel’ decided to study the economic effects of sport, its role in national economies, its dynamics and, above all, its impact on the labour market more closely. To this end, an EU-wide sport satellite account is to be introduced which provides information about the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) accounted for by sport and the number of sport employees on the basis of scientific parameters. The decision complements the work of the Working Group on Sport and Economics established by the European Commission in September 2006.
The Federal Minister of the Interior, Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, emphasized: “According to estimates, sport accounts for about one to three percent of gross domestic product in the EU Member States. It creates and maintains jobs and thus makes an important contribution to achieving the goals of the Lisbonagenda. I welcome the decision to introduce an EU-wide sport satellite account. It may also be used when deciding whether to apply for major sporting events or not.”
The EU sport ministers also agreed to strengthen cooperation and use experience gained so far when applying for major sporting events. For example, organizers of sporting events should be granted fewer tax exemptions, and requests for hosting accompanying conferences should be met less frequently.
When discussing the topic of sport and violence, participants in particular addressed the issue of riots during sport and especially football events. “At the meeting of EU sport ministers, we today discussed measures against violent riots. Counter-measures range from preventing violence – including social and integrative activities such as fan projects – to stopping violence through police measures. In particular, cross-border police operations, i.e. deploying police officers from the foreign fans’ home countries during sporting events, will be further enhanced”, Schäuble said.
The National Security Strategy, which in the Federal Republic of Germany is implemented in national league play (1st and 2nd Bundesliga), is to be made available to other Member States so they may consider this idea when discussing their own security strategies.
EU sport ministers agreed that strengthened cooperation among all national and European bodies, authorities, fan projects, associations and clubs is essential for preventing and stopping violence in sport. Associations and clubs should assume their responsibility towards fans to a greater extent through social projects such as fan coaching. Research is to focus on the violent behaviour of youths and risk fans. In future, stadium rules should conform to minimum, Europe-wide requirements, and stewards should be trained according to common EU standards.
