Great start for the EU Sport Forum in Malta
A structured dialogue between European Institutions and stakeholders of the sport sector. This 8th March, first day of the 2017 edition of the European Sport Forum, revealed itself particularly interesting, with the stress put on the new and future challenges that the European Union must face. Once more, the principle of specifity and autonomy of sport was underlined, clarifying that this autonomy doesn’t mean isolation, but cooperation with the institutions with democratic dialogue.
During the morning session, Yves Le Lostecque and Jens Christensen from the EU Commission started the event by congratulating with Mark Cutajar, Director General for Sport in Malta and with all the other Ministers, who have been working hard during this semester of presidency. Moreover, the EU Commission representatives made a summary of the activities done in last year, with a particular attention to the reports of the two HLG (on grassroots and on diplomacy) established last year.
Notable is the fact that Erasmus+ Sport Projects co-funded by the European Union increased in number, from the 53 of 2015 to the 140 of 2016, with such an improvement realised thanks to the inclusion of the small collaborative partnerships in the Programme. This aspect demonstrates the active and constructive engagement of sport organisations and federations. That is why it is so important to protect the good governance of sport, that has been one of the priorities of the last Work Plan for Sport.
Interesting sessions were held in the afternoon. The European Multisport Club Association participated in two of them: the first on the opportunities brought by innovation and digital technologies in sport and the other on the brand new “e-sport” aspects. Moreover, EMCA had the pleasure to have fruitful meetings with sports stakeholders and experts of the sport movement; in this sense, our Clubs were applauded for the Sport MyWay Project, considered a great idea with an incredible potential. An idea that we are looking forward to realise.
