Background

EU White Paper on Sport

In July 2007 the European Commission officially published its “White Paper on Sport” – the most comprehensive document on sport ever produced at European level. It builds on a period of more than two decades during which sport has gradually become a specific topic on the European agenda. The White Paper serves as a guideline for sport related actions in the upcoming years and contains a number of concrete measures relating to sport that will be implemented or supported by the Commission. At the official presentation, Jan Figel, European Commissioner in charge of Education, Training, Culture and Youth, stated: “This White Paper is the Commissions contribution to the European debate on the importance of sport in our daily lives. It enhances the visibility of sport in EU policy-making, raises awareness of the needs and specificities of the sport sector, and identifies appropriate further actions at EU-level”.

The “White Paper” addresses the issue of sport in Europe through three key areas:

  1. The social dimension of sport
    (healthcare, anti-doping policy, education policy, active citizenship, social integration, the fight against racism and violence)

  2. The economic dimension of sport
    (major events, economic statistics, and the financing of sport)

  3. The organisational dimension of sport
    (governance, specificity of sport, freedom of movement and nationality, transfers, players’ agents, protection of minors, financial crimes, media)

The above mentioned measures are embodied in the “Pierre de Coubertin”, action plan, which contains 53 concrete sport-related projects that will guide the Commission’s sport policy in the coming years.

Finally, the White Paper introduces the so-called “structured dialogue”, with the creation of a permanent platform for debate between the Commission and major sport stakeholders in Europe. The European Olympic Committees are explicitly mentioned as one of the actors in this consultation process.