Developing the European dimension of sport

Opinion factsheet

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  • Education and Culture
  • Sport

Objective

Contribute to the debate launched by the Communication and the 2007 White Paper on sport.

Impact

The opinion on "Developing the European Dimension of Sport" contributed to the debate launched by the Communication and the 2007 White Paper on sport. The interaction between sport and regional development, which the Committee of the Regions hoped would be achieved under the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, was included in the European Parliament resolution of 2 February 2012 on the European dimension in sport (P7_TA(2012)0025), in which the latter "insists that grassroots sport should benefit from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund which should allow for investment in sports infrastructure".

Essential points

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

- stresses that local and regional authorities have always acknowledged and harnessed the educational potential of sport, incorporating it into education policies and measures to improve quality of life, including in terms of public health;

- welcomes, in particular, the steps taken by the European Commission to support the fight against fraud and corruption in the field of sport;

- emphasises the ethical values of sport and in particular the need to teach young people the value of losing and fair play, starting with trainers and technicians, who must teach by example, in order to put a stop to improper and counter-educational incidents;

- stresses the societal value of sports initiatives such as the Special Olympics and the Paralympics, which further the social inclusion of people with disabilities, contributing in varying degrees to their personal independence;

- advocates supporting innovative initiatives, in the framework of lifelong learning, to encourage physical exercise in schools, especially between the ages of four and fourteen;

- calls for the opportunities under the European Regional Development Fund to be fully exploited in support of sports infrastructure and activities and for opportunities under the European Social Fund to be used to improve the skills and employability of workers in the sports sectors.