Paralympic sport gets EU boost

A joint declaration signed by the European Commission and the European Paralympic Committee (EPC) at the Beijing Paralympics recalls the importance of sport for strengthening social integration.

Following the funding boost it gave to the EPC earlier this year to develop paralympic sport in Europe, the Commission signed a ‘Declaration on Supporting the European Paralympic Committee’ on 8 September. 

“Sport plays a key role in the physical and social rehabilitation of people with disabilities and goes a long way towards integrating disabled people into society,” said the EU’s commissioner responsible for sport, Ján Figel’, attending the Paralympic Games, which are currently taking place in the Chinese capital. 

EPC President Enrique Sánchez-Guijo qualified the Beijing Declaration as a “testimony” to the high profile held by paralympic sport in the EU. 

The European Paralympic Committee, part of the global paralympic movement, is responsible for the development of disability sports in Europe. The two-year grant it received from the EU in April amounts to €110,000 a year. 

Allocated via the Europe for Citizens programme, the grant is a recognition of the importance of sport in strengthening social integration, says the Commission. The overall aim of the Europe for Citizens programme is to support the active involvement of citizens in the process of European construction through civil society organisations. 

The 2007 EU White Paper on Sport, which lays the ground for a future EU sports programme, calls on member states, sport organisations and local authorities to take account of the needs of people with disabilities to ensure equal access to sporting activities and infrastructure for all. 

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