The European Commissioner responsible for sport Mrs Androulla Vassiliou opened the Conference on the European Week of Sport, in preparation for the launch in 2015. The conference took place in Brussels on May 11, 2014, with attendance of over 150 participants from key organisations and institutions.

 

The first European Week of Sport will take place in September 2015. The aim of the event is to promote exercise and sport at all levels. This is especially important as there is a clear need in Europe to increase the activity of the citizens, especially among youth. Also the latest Eurobarometer survey on sport and physical activity showed that almost 60% of European Union citizens never or seldom exercise or play sport. The European Commission is expected to provide funding for European Week of Sport from Erasmus+, the new European programme for education, training, youth and sport.



The Commission will coordinate events and activities throughout Europe during the Week. Organisations signing up to its objectives will be able to receive guidance from the Commission and a European Week of Sport label. The Commission will also encourage national awareness-raising activities. While conscious that no one size fits all and that national traditions and sport structures must be respected, the Commissioner underlined the need for Member States to fully involve regional and local stakeholders in the organisation of the events.

 

The conference included the topics of the Implementation of the European Week of Sport, Stakeholders' contributions to the European Week of Sport, with representatives from The Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Federation of the European Sporting goods Industry (FESI), European Golf Tour and European Social Insurance Platform (ESIP).

 

Existing good practices of campaigns promoting and mobilising wider public on local, regional and international level were presented by the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA), Sentez-Vous-Sport by the French Olympic Committee (CNOFS) and the Let's Move by Nike.

 

Also the outlines of the campaign promoting the European Week of Sport and raise awareness and engage more participants in sporting activities and recreation #BeActive were presented. The event concluded with the presentation of the funding opportunities for the activities to be carried out through the Erasmus+ programme and other structures.

 

EUSA, the European University Sports Association, was present at the Conference by Mr Matjaz Pecovnik, Secretary General and Mr Andrej Pisl, Communications and Projects Manager. They also took the occasion to meet with representatives of the European Commission and partners’ organisations, including the European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO) and ENGSO Youth, European Paralympic Committee (EPC), International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA) and other organisations.

 

More information about the European Week of Sport (EWOS) will be soon made available at the official website of the European Commission at http://ec.europa.eu/sport/