EOC EU Office’s active work with Parliament brings sport closer to full recognition in future EU funding programmes

EOC EU Office’s active work with Parliament brings sport closer to full recognition in future EU funding programmes

In view of the adoption of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027, the EOC EU Office has carried out intense work with MEPs over the last months; some of which has already yielded positive results. On 16 January, the European Parliament adopted its position on the new European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) programmes, both of which now include sport-related amendments.

The European Social Fund is the EU programme aimed at investing in citizens. It promotes social inclusion, job opportunities, education, skills and the employability of young people, contributes to fighting poverty, and contributes to better living conditions, health and fairer societies. It is well known that sport can contribute to the achievement of most of the objectives listed above. For this reason, the EOC EU Office has focused its work on the areas of employment, skills and education, social inclusion and health. Out of a total of 4 amendments proposed by the EOC EU Office, the European Parliament took on board 3, namely:

·         A new recital on supporting actions using sport and physical activity to drive social inclusion, fight youth unemployment, and improve health promotion and disease prevention;

·         Two proposals falling under the health strand, especially regarding health promotion and disease prevention.

Interreg is one of the instruments of the EU to support cooperation across borders through project funding. It seeks to jointly tackle challenges in areas including health, environment, research, education, transport, and sustainable energy. Interreg has three types of programmes: Cross-border cooperation programmes; Transnational cooperation programmes; and Interregional programmes. The EOC EU Office has given full support to the sport-related amendment proposed by the European Committee of the Regions which falls under the cross-border cooperation programmes, people-to-people and small-scale projects.

Although these two legislative texts are not a definitive legislation yet — they still have to go through trilogue negotiations among the Council of the EU, the Parliament and the Commission — the fact that the Parliament has adopted sport amendments in its position on both ESF+ and Interreg programmes is already an important step. If such amendments are agreed in the trilogue, sport projects will be eligible for funding under ESF+ and Interreg programmes.

Further information

Amendments adopted by the European Parliament on the proposal for a regulation on specific provisions for Interreg.

Amendments adopted by the European Parliament on the proposal for a regulation on the ESF+.

Information about Interreg.

Press release on Parliament’s adoption of ESF+.

Recent Posts

Building bridges: German sport meets EU priorities

This week the EOC EU Office hosted the 35th Gemeinschaftstagung Internationales, bringing to Brussels a dynamic delegation from Germany’s Landessportbünde, Landessportjugenden, the DOSB and the dsj. Over two productive days, delegates swapped insights on their European and global project pipelines, compared strategies for international engagement and took a deep dive into the fast-evolving EU sport-policy […]

Read More
EU Budget 2028-2034: time to widely spread our demands to policymakers!

The EOC EU Office is coordinating an advocacy initiative to ensure that organised sport is represented in the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034. Backed by 48 National Olympic Committees, the IOC, the European Paralympic Committee, ASOIF, and most of its partner international and European federations, the joint position paper outlining our recommendations was […]

Read More
Monthly Report Highlight - Explanatory Guide to the Microplastics Regulation: Updates for the Sport Sector

On 31 March 2025, the European Commission published an Explanatory Guide complementing the 2023 Regulation on synthetic polymer microparticles (SPM), amending Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation, widely known as the “Microplastics Regulation”.  As a reminder, the 2023 Regulation directly impacted the sport sector by introducing a ban on the placing on the market of […]

Read More

Related Posts

May 23, 2025
Building bridges: German sport meets EU priorities

This week the EOC EU Office hosted the 35th Gemeinschaftstagung Internationales, bringing to Brussels a dynamic delegation from Germany’s Landessportbünde, Landessportjugenden, the DOSB and the dsj. Over two productive days, delegates swapped insights on their European and global project pipelines, compared strategies for international engagement and took a deep dive into the fast-evolving EU sport-policy […]

May 23, 2025
EU Budget 2028-2034: time to widely spread our demands to policymakers!

The EOC EU Office is coordinating an advocacy initiative to ensure that organised sport is represented in the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034. Backed by 48 National Olympic Committees, the IOC, the European Paralympic Committee, ASOIF, and most of its partner international and European federations, the joint position paper outlining our recommendations was […]

May 19, 2025
Monthly Report Highlight - Explanatory Guide to the Microplastics Regulation: Updates for the Sport Sector

On 31 March 2025, the European Commission published an Explanatory Guide complementing the 2023 Regulation on synthetic polymer microparticles (SPM), amending Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation, widely known as the “Microplastics Regulation”.  As a reminder, the 2023 Regulation directly impacted the sport sector by introducing a ban on the placing on the market of […]

About us

The EOC EU Office is the House of European Sport, representing the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the IOC and other major sport organisations to the European institutions in Brussels.
CONTACT
crossmenu linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram