mr president i welcome the statement by the eu sports ministers at their meeting last november in biarritz
they are important in driving the political debate on sport forward step by step and also in strengthening dialogue structures on sport as was recommended in our white paper in two thousand and seven
this white paper on sport is making good progress in implementation
the recent european council declaration on sport in december is also a very important step forward and calls for strengthened dialogue with the ioc and the sport movement as a priority
the commission has moved swiftly to follow up both calls from the political side
however dialogue in sport remains a challenging task given the diversity of sport and the complexity of the sport structures
in january in lausanne i met with the ioc president mr jacques rogge and representatives of international sport federations
the meeting confirmed that sport organisations are really moving away from insisting on general exemptions block exemptions from the acquis communautaire for sport and are ready to address sport-related topics with legal implications on a theme-per-theme basis
i think this is the appropriate way to achieve more clarity regarding the application of european union law to sport in addition to guidance provided in the white paper
we are also exchanging views with team sports
my services met last week with the main international and european team sport federations to discuss free movement of athletes and non-discrimination aspects in sport
i intend to follow up on these discussions by convening a further meeting at this high level in june
finally good progress has been achieved in setting up eu social dialogue structures in sport
it started in football and i believe it will continue in other sectors
regarding the shape of the dialogue framework there simply cannot be a single formal framework for consultation with the sport movement
given the specific organisation of sport the dialogue must take account of the different levels of sport
i am committed to a constructive partnership with all actors in sport respecting the autonomy of sport subsidiarity principles and national and eu legal frameworks
i think this is crucial in shaping the future eu policy framework for sport which without prejudging developments regarding the lisbon treaty we might have to implement as early as next year
here i also would like to thank the european parliament and especially the committee on culture and education for its support
you also notably approved the specific line or budget for a preparatory action which we will soon start to implement
this is an important opportunity and will help us to frame our ideas for the way ahead
