Neues Parlament soll EU Engagement im Sport fördern [en] 

"Notwithstanding the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the political groupings call on the EU institutions to improve the integration of sport in the various EU policies and EU funding programmes," reveals a survey of the groups' views on EU sports policy for the House's next term from 2009-2014.

The European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO) sent a questionnaire  to every political group ahead of the EU elections. The move was prompted by inquiries from its member organisations, who were eager to find out the political groups' views on the autonomy and specific nature of sport, ethics, financing, volunteering, education and health ahead of the EU elections. 

The responses represent 83% of seats (648 out of 785) in the European Parliament, underlined ENGSO, which hopes its special election newsletter will provide useful infromation for EU's "110 million sports club members and maybe-voters". Only the Parliament's four biggest political groups - EPP-ED, the Socialists, ALDE and the Greens/EFA - responded.

ENGSO notes that the groups all wish to protect the autonomy and specific nature of sport. They also support the principle of financing 'sport for all' in Europe with revenues from state-organised or licensed gambling.

As for sports in schools, the centre-right EPP-ED group and the Socialists are calling for "better cooperation of schools with sport organisations" and at least three hours of physical education per week. 

The EPP-ED wants to see increased investment in sports infrastructure by the EU and its member states, and suggests reducing VAT for sport in view of its social significance. In parallel, the Socialists are backing the inclusion of a special line for sport 'pilot projects' in the bloc's 2010 budget, similar to that in the 2009 budget (EurActiv 19/05/09). They are urging the Commission to properly mainstream sport into existing EU policies and funding programmes. 

ENGSO also notes that the European parties are calling for an EU-wide solution to the "problem areas" of doping and gambling scandals. The groups recommend making anti-doping rules "as uniform as possible" within the EU 27, and adopting legal instruments for strict monitoring of gambling activities (EurActiv 11/03/09). 

Related to its questionnaire, an ENGSO manifesto entitled 'Sport for an Active and Competitive Europe' published earlier this year set out a series of recommendations for European decision-makers to better take into account the challenges facing "the largest social activity in Europe".