EU Commission asks citizens for their views on EU involvement in sport

At the moment, the European Union has no direct competence to deal with issues of sport. However, European policies in a number of areas have a considerable and growing impact on sport and therefore the EU Commission is in the process of preparing a socalled White Paper on sport.

Last year the EU commission organised consultations with sports movements, and now the turn has come to allow citizens a say in the process through an online survey.

”We have chosen to use an online survey to make it transparent and easy to participate so that athletes have the same access as organisations to express their opinions,” explains Jacob Kornbeck from the European Commission’s Sports Unit.

The planned White Paper will focus on three key elements: The role of sport in European society, the economic impact of sport, and the organisational aspects of sport in Europe. The survey is closely related to these themes and asks question such as

• Should the European Union measure the economic potential of sport in order to help raise the profile of sport in EU and national policies
• Do you think that cooperation between sport organisations, Member States and EU institutions is desirable
• Should the European Union have the capacity to intervene more in European sports issues?
• Should the European Union co-operate with national sport organisations and national governing bodies in order to fight against corruption?

The survey should be completed by 3 April 2007.

Go to the survey  - scroll down the page to find Planned White Paper on sport under Open consultations