The annual meeting of the EPAS Governing Board and meeting of the EPAS Consultative Committee was held in Strasbourg on June 13 and 14, 2022 – marking also the 15th anniversary of EPAS – Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, a body of the Council of Europe (COE).

The event was held at the Council of Europe headquarters, and started on Monday morning with a parallel session of the meeting of the EPAS Governing Board and the meeting of the EPAS Consultative Committee, whose member is also the European University Sports Association (EUSA).



EPAS Consultative Committee meeting started with the welcomes by the Chair of the Consultative Committee Mr Kolë Gjeloshaj, Head of the Sport Division and EPAS Executive Secretary Ms Sophie Kwasny and Head of Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes at Council of Europe Ms Irena Guidikova.



The reports and information of the past EPAS events were presented for the past year. From the online events, the Webinar on physical education and school sport on February 21, and an online breakfast roundtable with a focus on women in sport on March 8 have been highlighted, while the in-person/hybrid event held on September 20 in Paris - Diversity Conference 2021 focused on protecting and promoting the human rights of intersex and transgender athletes in sport competitions, with active contribution of EUSA; as well as the Combating Hate Speech in Sport conference, also held hybrid mode - in Strasbourg and online on May 31.



Elections of the Consultative Committee's Bureau took place at the meeting, re-electing Mr Kole Gjeloshaj (ISF) as the Chair, Mr Mogens Kirkeby (ISCA) as Vice-Chair, and Mr Janez Sodrznik (TAFISA), Ms Pauline Johanet (Peace and Sport), Ms Charlotte Girard-Fabre (IFSO) and Baiba Veisa (EFPM) as members, with Ms Emily Shaw (UEFA) being elected as the Gender Equality Rapporteur.



EPAS Consultative Committee currently counts 29 members, with an application pending confirmation, and will therefore be soon completed to its full capacity of 30 members. It it comprised by members of sports organisations, NGOs and international organisations, giving opinion and feedback on the programme of activities and provides advice for the decisions of the Governing Board, comprising the member states’ sports authorities (Ministries responsible for Sport).



The event continued with the joint meeting of EPAS Governing Board and Consultative Committee, chaired by Mr Alexandre Husting from Luxembourg. The meeting addressed several topics, reflecting on EPAS core values on promoting and ensuring that sport is Ethical, Inclusive and Safe.

The reports and discussions covered topics on statutory meetings and events, policy developments, conventions, as well as specific past, ongoing and upcoming projects and initiatives, including the All in project, Start to Talk initiative, and several others.



The anniversary celebration was marked also by a special reception in the presence of Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Mr Bjørn Berge, highlighting the relevance, historic background and main achievements of EPAS in the past 15 years.



EUSA Communications & Projects Manager Mr Andrej Pisl represented the organisation, attending the 2022 EPAS events in Strasbourg.  EPAS members are set to meet next at the Conference of ministers responsible for sport in 2022 in Antalya, Turkey in October 2022, while the next annual meeting is scheduled to take place in Strasbourg, France in June 2023.

For more information, please visit https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/epas/.