Ministers stress social significance of sport[fr][de] 

The Joint Declaration on Social Significance and Dialogue in Sport , adopted on 17 March 2008, calls for more structured dialogue between governmental and civilian domains and enhanced cooperation between all stakeholders in developing EU policy on sport. 

"Enhanced dialogue with the civil sports authorities is urgently needed, given that sport is a multifaceted domain with many positive effects," said the Slovenian Minister for Sport and Education Milan Zver. The declaration notably highlights the role of regular physical activity as a means of promoting health, development, peace and environment, as well as the social significance of sports organisations in bringing together people form different social and cultural backgrounds.

The EU Commissioner responsible for sports, Jan Figel, has already called for the launch of a large scale stakeholder dialogue in the field of sports on the basis of the Commission's White Paper on Sports, which was adopted in July 2007. "There is still a lot of work to be done," Figel said.

The declaration, adopted in the first ever joint meeting of EU-27 Sports Ministers and Presidents of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), sets the ground for a joint EU policy in the field of sports. 

Together with the Commission's White Paper on Sports, the declaration feeds into the preparatory process of setting priorities for EU action in sport and developing an EU sports programme, which could be launched once and if the EU Lisbon Treaty enters into force in January 2009, creating an EU competence in sport.

While stressing the positive social role of sport and the need to mainstream it as one of the central themes of EU policy, the ministerial declaration recognises that "it is the task of sporting organisations to organise and promote their particular sports" and that dialogue between EU ministers for sport, the European Commission and NOC presidents "should address and consider the implications of the principles of autonomy and specificity of sport".