On 1 March, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the European Parliament’s first participation in the Parliamentary Rugby World Cup which will take place from 31 August to 8 September in Paris. This event will be launched before and in the run-up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The team of 40 mixed players from 15 nationalities from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council will face a dozen national parliamentary teams from around the world (France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa).
On this occasion, Roberta Metsola suggested a better interparliamentary cooperation worldwide. She sees this event as an opportunity to build bridges between the different European national parliaments by using the universal language of sport to promote exchange and understanding.
In addition to being a concrete example of European sports diplomacy strategy, all aspects of an EU team participation in this competition should be consistent with the EU's commitments, MEP Eric Andrieu (S&D) stated.
The co-captains of the EU team, French MEPs Eric Andrieu (S&D) and Anne-Sophie Pelletier (The Left) pointed that all profits from the Parliamentary World Cup matches will be given to charity and the choice of team sponsors will be made in accordance with the principles of the Green Deal.