 ENGSO-President Ms Birgitta Kervinen |
16th ENGSO General Assembly
Istanbul (Turkey), 17 May 2008
ENGSO General Assembly 2008: The future of sport in Europe looks bright
During the 16th General Assembly of the European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO), Birgitta KERVINEN, ENGSO-President, welcomed the latest European developments in relation to sport – in particular the EU White Paper on Sport and the article on sport in the Lisbon Treaty.
ENGSO has a long tradition in supporting the legal recognition of sport in the EU-Treaties. Due to ENGSO’s long-time demands, the article on sport has been finally incorporated in the Lisbon Treaty. Therefore, ENGSO welcomes the Lisbon Treaty and the future sport’s competence as an area in which the European Union can carry out measures to support, coordinate or complement the actions of the Member States. ENGSO will be ready to give valuable input on how to shape a future EU competence in the field of sport, according to Ms KERVINEN.
In connection to the White Paper Ms KERVINEN stated: “ENGSO is very satisfied that the European Commission has picked up many of our issues like the role of voluntary non-profit sport organisations or enhancing public health through physical activity as priority key policies in the White Paper. Now, the implementation of the Pierre de Coubertin Action Plan with these priorities is of prime importance.”
Furthermore, the ENGSO-members have been informed that ENGSO will receive structural support from the European Commission for its proposed work programme 2008. This grant underlines the high quality work of ENGSO and its increase in importance at European level. ENGSO will build on this recognition of its role for sport in Europe and cooperate with EU-stakeholders even more.
The next ENGSO Forum will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, on the 22-23 October 2008 and focus on health and volunteering. The next ENGSO General Assembly will take place in May 2009 in Paris, France.