On 2 and 3 May, the EU Sport Forum 2023 took place in Stockholm under the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council. 400 participants (approx.) representing a wide range of stakeholders from all over the continent gathered to discuss the main challenges for the sports movement in Europe. In their respective opening speeches, Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth), Jakob Forssmed (Swedish Minister for Social Affairs and Health) and MEP Tomasz Frankowski (co-chair of EP Sports Group) highlighted the power of sports in promoting European values and health. Representatives from EURO 24 delivered keynote speeches on sustainability and inclusion being major parts of the planning of the tournament.
The Sports Forum saw two panel discussions on women in sports and on integrity in sports and several parallel sessions provided the opportunity for participants to dive deeper into specific topics, such as sustainable sporting events, inclusion in sports or athletes’ rights. The EU Sport Forum 2023 was concluded with an update on the European Commission’s initiatives on sport both in terms of policies and available EU funding programmes from Floor van Houdt (Head of the Sport Unit, DG EAC) and Luciano Di Fonzo (Deputy Head of Unit for Erasmus Mundus and Sport, EACEA) before the closing remark of Viviane Hoffmann (Deputy Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture).

During the EU Sport Forum in Stockholm, the Commission announced the winners of the 2022 #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards. Youth Line Portugal was awarded in the category Sport for peace, PaddlePWR-GirlPWR from Slovakia won in Promoting gender equality in sport – Be Equal and the winner in the category Breaking Barriers is Free Movement Skateboarding from Greece.