Mar 13, 2017
This event is the biggest gathering of stakeholders in the sport sector, with over 350 delegates from EU institutions, Member States, sport organizations and other NGOs participating. This edition was organized by the Maltese presidency on 8-9th of March in St. Julian’s. The main focus was put on grassroots sport, but a number of other issues and currents in the European sport sector, including sessions on good governance and anti-doping was also dealt with.
The Commission’s dedication to use the Forum to engage in a structured dialogue is appreciated, but it is hard to escape the impression that the Olympic movement seems to be a privileged entity claiming to represent sport on many occassions. A wider stakeholder representation and involvement would be more appropriate and surely would benefit the exchanges.
The EU Sport Forum included the networking area, which was a great initiative aiming to foster cooperation between different organizations and EU funded projects around topics of common interest. EU Athletes was there to represent our Erasmus+ Supporting Women Athletes From Europe (SWAFE) project in the “Women in Sport” theme.
More information on the event can be found on the European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/sport/events/201700127-eu-sport-forum_en
Jun 16, 2016
The conference under the title “The fight against doping in the EU legal framework: balance between effective anti-doping
measures and fundamental rights” was held on the 15th of June in Amsterdam.
Anti-doping has been defined as one the priorities in the field of sport for the Dutch Presidency of the EU, who has organized this event. The debate was focused around the questions of the impact of the new EU legislation on data protection on athletes and other current issues related to combating doping in sport. EUA General Secretary Jeff Reymond represented views of athletes on anti-doping system as an invited member of the discussion panel.
May 23, 2016
The social partners of the sports sector, UNI Europa and EASE, have developed three new tools for comprehensive risk evaluation, with the support from the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work, EU-OSHA.
The sports sector accounts for a very high rate of work-related accidents. Comprehensive risk evaluation is the first step forward to proper risk management and employee protection.
The three tools respond to the great variety of activities in the sector: active leisure, not for profit and professional sports. Social partners as well as OiRA partners at national level are invited to adapt these EU sports tools to their own needs and context.
EU Athletes, as an affiliate of UNI Europa, participated in the work of European Sectorial Social Dialogue in Sport and contributed to the creation of the OiRA tool for the professional sport.
Learn more about occupational safety and health in the sports sector! Check out the tools on the website: http://www.oiraproject.eu/oira-tools
Please spread the news and share our tool using the hashtags #EUSportSafe and #OiRAtools
Apr 28, 2016
Held at the NHLPA offices’ in Toronto, this meeting gathered the most important union representatives of the planet.
First meeting of the year for #UWA executive committee. Held at the NHLPA office in Toronto, Athletes representatives from around the world, held a 3 days meeting to discuss important issues for athletes such as CAS, the next Rio Olympics or Anti-doping.
For Jean-François REYMOND, General Secretary of EUAthletes, this meeting was a unique opportunity to exchange views and discuss the strategy of the group moving forward “Uni World Athletes is a really important vehicle for our members, not only because of the long standing relationship we have with UNI GLOBAL but because unionized athletes need a global voice and this voice is #UWA. Issues are now genuinely global for our members and they need a coordinated response. This meeting allowed us the finalize our strategy. Our road map is really clear and it’s time for actions”
The next meeting of #UWA will take place in July in Amsterdam and an other one is schedule already for November 2016 in Europe.
Apr 25, 2016
Natalia Orive is the first women ever to seat on EU Athletes’ executive board.
During the last EU Athletes General Assembly two new members: Natalia Orive from Spanish Female Indoor Football Players Association (AJFSF) and Vasilis Minoudis from Hellenic Professional Volleyball Players Association (HPVPA) have been elected to join EUA Board.
Brendon Batson from Professional Players Federation (PPF) has been re-elected for another three years term. Special recognition must be given to Natalia, who is the first woman ever to sit on EU Athletes’ Executive Board.
By: Paulina Tomczyk
