EU Athletes is pleased to announce that the Social Dialogue in Europe for Professional (SDE Pro) Sports project has been approved and is set to officially start in June 2022 under the Support for Social Dialogue programme. In the course of this 2-year project, co-funded by the EU, EU Athletes will together with the European Association of Sport Employers (EASE) and the German Sport University of Cologne contribute to the development of social dialogue between employers and employees in professional sport in the EU.
As highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic, social dialogue in professional sport is underdeveloped at EU level, and needs to be strengthened. Social dialogue is an essential element to good governance in the sport sector and an important tool for the development of professional sport. It enables the economic development of the sector on the one hand, and the protection of athletes on the other hand. Therefore, this project is expected to bring about positive change for EU Athletes members, particularly in regards to capacity building, organization, and the creation of new player associations.
The first phase of the project (2022-2023) will consist of mapping and highlighting positive aspects of the various collective agreements in place on national level around Europe. From this, the project partners will produce guides gathering good practices and relevant information for the implementation of social dialogue in professional sports at national level (2023-2024). The common work of the associations and organisations from various European countries will potentially also contribute to the development of social dialogue in professional sports at a European level. There is no such framework in place in the EU right now, but this project will encourage a reflection for the future.
On 28th of April 2022, the SDE Pro Sports project partners met on Teams for a first operational meeting. The upcoming kick-off meeting is to be held in July 2022, including the three partners and five members each from EU Athletes and EASE. Members will be invited to the meeting to share their knowledge and reflect on a common ground for social dialogue in Europe. They will also be brought into the project at later stages and enabled active participation throughout its duration.
More information about the project is available here.
