The Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission organised the 2019 EU Sport Forum in Bucharest, Romania, on the 8th and 9th of April 2019 in the framework of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the IOA was there to attend this great sports event. The EU Sport Forum is the main platform for structured dialogue between the European Commission and sport stakeholders.

The Forum’s main objective is to take stock of progress achieved in implementing the EU agenda for sport and to seek stakeholders’ views on current and future activities.This event has become the key annual meeting for the European and international sport family, where participants have a unique opportunity to exchange and discuss views with policy makers of the EU institutions, and representatives of the sport movement. Around 400 participants, mostly representatives of various National Olympic Committees, federations, sport clubs, other sport organisations and athletes as well as Member States, local authorities, ministries of sport, youth and culture along with academics gathered in the 2019 EU Sport Forum and engaged in high level discussions, structured exchanges and networking activities. Among the keynote speakers were: EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Mr Tibor Navracsics, President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Mr Mihai Covaliu, President of the European Olympic Committees, Mr Janez Kocijanćić, President of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, Mr Sergey Bubka, French Minister of Sport, Ms Roxana Márácineanu, Vice-Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Ms Danka Bartekova, and Director of the European Office and International Federation Relations at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Mr Sébastien Gillot.At the two-day event, a whole range of topics have been tackled during plenary and breakout sessions.

These topics were selected from both the programme developed by the Romanian presidency, in which they set out their priorities in the different policy areas, and the EU work plan for sport 2017–2020.The discussion focused on main EU priorities in the area of sport, namely the role of sport federations, promotion of healthy lifestyles, funding of grassroots sport and governance of professional sport. The first day of the Forum included plenary sessions on doping in sport, the role of sport federations in the promotion of European sport and whether or not Europe can still attract major sports events. There was also a presentation on empowering girls through sport, as well as parallel sessions on the rights and interests of athletes and schools’ contribution to the promotion of healthy lifestyles.Following a plenary opening on European Commission’s activities by the coordinator of the Forum and Head of Sport Unit, DG EAC, Mr Yves Le Lostecque, the second day offered a series of parallel sessions on various topics such as the protection of sport rights in the EU, the financing of grassroots sport, justice in sport and challenges of less popular sports.

A plenary session on how Europeans will engage in sport in the future followed, before the concluding remarks officially closed the Forum.During the Forum and in between the various sessions the participants also had the opportunity to visit stands that offered information and relevant material on EU initiatives and programmes such as the Erasmus+ Sport and the European Week of Sport, the #BeActive Awards, the Share Initiative, Social Biking and the #BeInclusive EU Sport Awards.The Forum presented the perfect opportunity for the IOA to explore the latest developments on EU sport policies and to get a clear perspective about the future of sports in Europe, to network with other sport organisations, strengthen partnerships with established stakeholders, as well as engage with potential new partners. The IOA looks forward to the next edition of the EU Sport Forum that will take place in spring 2020 and is eager to contribute to its works!