Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-11-30-Speech-3-094"
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"en.20051130.12.3-094"2
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Madam President, I have both an easier and more difficult task owing to lack of time. Minister Pearson described many reasons why sport, education and social development are so important in our policies in the Union, but also vis-à-vis third countries and with regard to our developing goals, especially the Millennium Goals.
I fully agree with Mrs Martens. Sport and physical education can contribute to attaining the Millennium Development Goals. We welcome the work done by the United Nations in this field, in particular the creation of a special international platform on sport and development. We also welcome the proclamation of 2005 as the International Year of Sport and Physical Education. The Commission is, and will be, further involved in these activities. In particular, we will now participate in the closing conference of this initiative, which will focus precisely on the issue of sport and development.
As you have mentioned already, this year was preceded by the European Year of Education through Sport 2004, which was a very important year for our area of cooperation. I will officially report to the Parliament by the end of this year on these activities and on subsequent recommendations or conclusions. I therefore believe there will be more time and space to deal with the results of this initiative.
Naturally, we are working on the basis of the Nice Treaty and the Declaration annexed thereto. This limits the possibilities for the Commission but, in close cooperation with Member States, a lot has been done and a lot is on the rolling agenda of our Sport Ministers.
Nevertheless, when it comes to funding projects in the field of sport and development, the European Union’s support for such initiatives could only be channelled through the existing programmes in the field of development cooperation. This is already the case. Projects using sport as a means for development have been co-financed, for example, in the field of non-formal education, social integration or to encourage women from disadvantaged communities to participate in sport.
I would like to confirm to honourable Members, and especially to Mr Sifunakis, our unconditional support for the Olympic truce. On several occasions sport has been shown to achieve results where other means have failed. The joint parade of the North and South Korean delegations under the flag of the Korean peninsula during the opening ceremony of the games in Sydney was an outstanding and very strong example.
In this context, I welcome the initiative of the European Parliament in view of the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006, which is very near. This follows a similar initiative on the occasion of the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004. The European Union should indeed take the lead in lending support to initiatives promoting peace around the world. Let me nevertheless stress that it is for Member States to take the final decision. I would like to assure you, however, that within my portfolio I will do my best to promote the Olympic truce.
To conclude, I would like to say that there is a strong and growing engagement in Parliament and the Committee on Culture and Education in the sports area. I congratulate you for this, because it is important for the overall development not only of sport, but also of our European spirit."@en1
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