EPAS – Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, a body of the Council of Europe (COE), held its annual meeting of the Governing Board and Consultative Committee in Strasbourg between May 28 and 30, 2024; providing an overview of activities and bringing changes in the elected representatives.

The meetings started with a working meeting on May 28, with updates of the Consultative Committee, and workshops on the topics of refugees and migrants; sport for all; and education. After the session, a networking event followed for the members of the committee.

On May 29, EPAS Consultative Committee were acquainted with the 3 new members joining the body: International Automobile Federation (FIA), Rugby Europe and World Snowboarding Federation (WSF); bringing the count to 30 organisations being part of the Consultative Committee. European University Sports Association (EUSA) was accepted in 2018, and has been an active member ever since.

Following the introductions and reports, the elections to the Consultative Committee (CC) Bureau were also held for the next 2-year period. The CC elected the bureau members as follows: Chair: Charlotte Girard Fabre (International Federation of Sport Officials – IFSO), Vice-Chair: Mogens Kirkeby (International Sport and Culture Association – ISCA), Members: Annemarie Phelps (European Olympic Committees – EOC), Andrej Pisl (European University Sports Association – EUSA), Patrik Perosa (International Dance Organisation – IDO), Pauline Johanet (Peace and Sport); and Gender Equality Rapporteur: Marie Denitton (European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation – ENGSO).

In the afternoon, the Joint meeting of the Governing board and Consultative Committee was opened by Matjaz Gruden, Director of DGII - Directorate for Democracy, supporting democracies through education, youth participation, culture and heritage policies and sport.

The EPAS Activity report, Factsheets and the Showcasing and Sharing Tool was presented by the EPAS Executive Secretary Sophie Kwasny and EPAS Chair Alexandre Husting. Representatives of the Secretariat updated the participants of the changes of the Governing Board and Consultative Committee, as well as Committee of Ministers, Parliamentary Assembly and Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) of the Council of Europe. Information on cooperation with the European Union was presented by Vesna Batistic Kos, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Council of Europe. An important part of the discussion was also the EPAS Strategy 2024-2025, which will bring some updates, as well as rebranding, after 15 years of EPAS in the 75-year anniversary of the Council of Europe.

Initiatives and work on the three pillars of EPAS were also presented. Specifically within Pillar 1 - Ethical Sport: the Network of Magistrates/Prosecutors Responsible for Sports (MARS); Database on Alleged Cases of Corruption in Sport (DACCS); and International Partnership Against Corruption in Sport (IPACS). Within Pillar 2: Inclusive sport: EPAS diversity conference 2023 – Inclusion of child migrants and refugees in and through sport; EPAS diversity Conference 2025; Breakfast roundtable on gender equality in sport; Toolkit on protecting and promoting the human rights of transgender and intersex athletes in sport; and Report by the Gender Equality Rapporteurs. Within Pillar 3 - Safe sport: Start to Talk; and International Pool of Experts on Safe Sport.

The second day also included information on Council of Europe Convention sport conventions on Anti-doping; Manipulation of Sports Competitions (Macolin); and Integrated Safety, Security and Service (Saint-Denis). 

Following the conclusion of the first day, the participants took part at the opening of the exhibition “Les Elles des Jeux” (women of sport), co-organised with the Permanent Representation of France to the Council of Europe.

The last day started with the round table on the European Sports Charter, with the opening by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe; Sandra Bergqvist, Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity of Finland; and Kaari Mattila, Secretary General of the Finnish League for Human Rights and coordinator of the Don’t Break the Game campaign.

Presentations by the national delegations as well as consultative committee members were done of their activities and good practices on the following themes, related to the European Sports Charter: Human Rights; Sport for All; Sustainability; Migrants and Refugees; and Education. On behalf of EUSA, the organisation work and projects were briefly presented by Andrej Pisl, Projects and Policy Manager.

Presentation of the EU-CoE Joint Projects were also made; on Combating Hate Speech in Sport; ALL IN+; and Balance S4. Feedback from the Working group on the implementation of the European Sports Charter was provided, also summing up the methodology at countries who have been receiving support and follow-up visits. The participants were reminded of the main outcomes and follow-up of the 17th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport (Antalya, 2022), and the planning of the 18th edition (Porto, 2024). The next EPAS meeting will be at the 18th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport in Porto, Portugal in October 2024.

The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe (COE) provides a platform for intergovernmental sports co-operation between the public authorities of its member states. It also encourages dialogue between public authorities, sports federations and non-governmental organisations, contributing to better governance, with the aim of making sport more ethical, more inclusive and safer. Special emphasis of EPAS is also the promotion of the revised European Sports Charter and its values. For more information, please see www.coe.int/epas.