Changes from plenary report to adopted text

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular Articles 6 and 165 thereof, which specify the competences and action of the Union in the area of sport, and in particular the promotion of European sporting issues, while taking into account the specific nature of sport, its structures based on voluntary activity, and its social and educational function, and Articles 26 and 114 thereof, which specify the competences of the Union with regard to its internal market,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/817 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 establishing Erasmus+: the Union Programme for education and training, youth and sport and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013, and in particular Chapter IV on Sport,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 11 July 2007 entitled ‘White Paper on Sport’ (COM(2007)0391),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 18 January 2011 entitled ‘Developing the European Dimension in Sport’ (COM(2011)0012),

– having regard to its resolution of 2 February 2012 on the European dimension in sport,

– having regard to its resolution of 14 March 2013 on match-fixing and corruption in sport,

– having regard to its resolution of 2 February 2017 on an integrated approach to Sport Policy: good governance, accessibility and integrity,

– having regard to its resolution of 19 May 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on challenges of sports events organisers in the digital environment,

– having regard to its resolution of 23 November 2021 on EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward,

– having regard to the study requested by its Committee on Culture and Education entitled ‘EU sports policy: assessment and possible ways forward’, published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies in June 2021,

– having regard to the Commission study entitled ‘Study on the European sport model’, published in April 2022,

– having regard to the resolution of 3 June 2024 of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council on the European Union Work Plan for Sport (1 July 2024 – 31 December 2027),

– having regard to the Commission report of 14 February 2024 on the implementation and relevance of the European Union Work Plan for Sport 2021–2024 and on the Recommendation on promoting health-enhancing physical activities across sectors (COM(2024)0073),

– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (the Macolin Convention), signed on 18 September 2014,

– having regard to the Revised European Sports Charter, adopted by the Council of Europe on 13 October 2021,

– having regard to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport of 2015,

– having regard to recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) relating to sport, including Cases C-124/21 P, International Skating Union v Commission, C-680/21, Royal Antwerp Football Club v Union royale belge des sociétés de football association, C-333/21, European Superleague Company v FIFA and UEFA and C‑650/22, FIFA v BZ,

– having regard to the resolution of 12 December 2021 of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council on the key features of a European Sport Model,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education (A10-0157/2025),

A. whereas sport is a European public good and an increasingly valuable European asset – socially, economically, politically and culturally;

B. whereas sport and physical activity play an important role in people’s lives, bringing communities and people together and improving health and well-being;

C. whereas sport and physical activity serve as vectors for integration and inclusion and offer a sense of community, especially for people with fewer opportunities;

D. whereas sport and physical activity play vital roles in promoting EU values such as democracy, respect, solidarity, diversity and equality;

E. whereas the European Sport Model is underpinned by key features such as the principles of solidarity, sustainability, integrity, inclusiveness, sporting merit, territoriality and openness of competitions;

F. whereas there is a need to maintain a healthy balance between national team competitions and club competitions;

G. whereas the European Sport Model encompasses professional and grassroots sport;

H. whereas sport is a driver of the EU’s cohesion policy, particularly in rural and disadvantaged, remote areas which are challenged by limited funds, infrastructure and declining membership;

I. whereas the majority of grassroots sports revenue is based on citizens’ own payments, unpaid work by volunteers, support from local businesses and subsidies from municipalities;

J. whereas the European Sport Model encompasses the development of women’s sport and the promotion of gender equality in sport;

K. whereas there is a worrying decline in the number of volunteers participating in grassroots sport;

L. whereas athletes often face insufficient social protection, and encounter rising intensity in their sports and match calendars, as well as the challenges of combining education and employment with their sporting careers;

M. whereas the recent CJEU judgments present an opportunity for EU policy to further enhance the European Sport Model;

N. whereas sport faces numerous challenges, including problems of governance, corruption, match-fixing, doping, online piracy and discrimination;

O. whereas the revenue lost by sports events organisers from the online piracy of live sports content could be reinvested in the EU sports ecosystem;

P. whereas there are new and evolving trends in ownership, such as those arising from foreign investment and multi-ownership in sport;

The European Sport Model: serving society and fostering inclusiveness

1. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to defending the European Sport Model, in which sport and physical activity serve societal objectives and contribute across key EU policy areas;

2. Recognises the need to protect the European Sport Model, ensuring the ongoing sustainable development of sport and physical activity from grassroots to professional levels and at local, regional, national and European levels;

3. Stresses the need to further develop the European Sport Model in line with the interests of citizens, EU values and policy priorities such as equality, diversity, inclusion, sustainability, health and well-being, the European social model and EU competitiveness;

4. Calls on all stakeholders to intensify their efforts to promote safe, inclusive and equitable sport, accessible to all, with a focus on advancing gender equality, combating all forms of violence, discrimination and harassment, and improving the accessibility of sports infrastructure;

5. Stresses, in this regard, the need to ensure the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all sports contexts, including their involvement in governance and decision-making processes;

6. Highlights that the European Sport Model must be based on the principle of sport as a public good, ensuring that public investment in sport returns benefits to society in the form of inclusion, health, education and social cohesion;

7. Underlines the vital role of physical activity for all, regardless of age, highlighting its immediate and long-term benefits for physical and mental health, as well as its contribution to developing and maintaining people’s social and life skills;

8. Stresses the importance of promoting physical activity among children and young people, including the involvement of athletes and para-athletes as role models, and calls for the increased investment in the necessary school sport infrastructures, quality physical education and extracurricular sport programmes;

9. Stresses the preventive role of sport in addressing the social isolation, violence and radicalisation of young people, and highlights the need to protect them from any form of abuse in sport;

10. Underlines the crucial role of volunteers in sport, and calls on the Commission to develop recommendations jointly with the Member States to support and incentivise volunteering in sport, including guidelines for attracting, acknowledging and retaining volunteers in sport, both for grassroots and professional sport;

11. Acknowledges that grassroots sport in Europe is characterised by strong civil society engagement with community-rooted clubs and associations, which are based on volunteering;

The European Sport Model: serving EU values and solidarity

12. Stresses the fundamental importance of the principle of solidarity in ensuring that sport serves and promotes the interests of all, rather than the profits of a few, and reiterates the need to strengthen the connection between professional and grassroots sport through more effective financial solidarity mechanisms, to optimise its development;

13. Calls on the Commission to encourage sports governing bodies to implement mechanisms and policies in youth development, aimed at rewarding clubs for training players who contribute to the continued success of professional competitions, thereby ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the sports sector;