ENGSO Youth shared its vision for Youth and Sport Sectors at the European Parliament
To mark the end of the legislative term, the European Parliament's (EP) CULT Committee organised a debate with young people during its last meeting of the Parliamentary term (9 April, 2024).
Our Project and Policy Manager, Tiago Guilherme, represented ENGSO Youth and during his intervention he underlined what we consider being some of the key priorities for the Youth and Sport sectors, namely:
- The need for an EU Strategy on Sport and Physically Active Lifestyles – The current framework for the EU Sport Policy lies essentially in the EU Work Plan for Sport. The EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, for instance, relies on specific EU Work Plans for Youth (the latest one for the 2022-2024 period). This doesn’t mean that the Sport sector needs to follow and replicate every single step of its Education and Youth brothers, but somehow it feels like we might have skipped a step here.
- Reiterated our hopes that, during the next mandate, the European Parliament can work towards the re-establishment of the Intergroup on Sport, with an extended focus on sporting activities in the social and educational sectors. Intergroups are a forum for informal exchanges of views on specific issues across different political groups, and for contact between Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and civil society. Each is composed of MEPs from at least three different political groups. Intergroups are not official Parliament bodies, but are recognised by Parliament. They are established by agreement between the chairs of the political groups at the beginning of each legislative term. Unfortunately, during the current 9th Parliamentary term (2019-2024) the European Parliament decided not to continue with the Intergroup on Sport as an official EP Intergroup.
Together with friends from other Youth Organisations, we also highlighted the importance of Youth and Sport mainstreaming in other EU Policy areas, namely by:
- Recalling ENGSO Youth flagship event, the European Youth and Sport Platform, as a concrete example of an initiative brought to life as a follow-up to the legacy of the European Year of Youth 2022 to seize the potential for synergies between the Youth and Sport sectors and further mainstreaming Youth and Sport into other policy areas.
- Underlining that integrating young people engaged in sports into the whole policy spectrum requires a multi-layered approach that prioritises engagement, representation, and empowerment. This can be done by:
- Developing mechanisms for consulting with youth organisations, and grassroots sport clubs and organisations, to gather input on policy proposals and initiatives.
- Youth Participation in Committees: Invite young representatives from youth sport organisations to participate in committee meetings and hearings as observers or guest speakers.
- Increase the number of youth and sports-related activities that are dealt with jointly by other standing committees, which can enhance both intra and inter-institutional cooperation. Sports-related items should also be placed more often on the agenda.
- Forge partnerships with youth organisations, grassroots sport organisations, and educational institutions to promote youth participation in sport and policy-making processes.
Lastly, I would like to thank the friends from the European Youth Forum and from the other Youth Organisations that were present in this debate for being tireless in advocating for Youth Rights!
What’s next? ENGSO Youth will be at European Parliament for the European Youth Forum LevelUp event (April 12-13), hosting 2 sessions on Human Rights Education through Sport. Make sure to visit us if you’re around!
Additionally, we will also be present at the EU Sport Forum in Liège (16-17 April, 2024) where we will be able to see many friends from the Sport community and perhaps discuss some of the points mentioned above for the future of the EU Youth and Sport Policy.
Finally, next European Elections 2024, June 6-9, don’t forget to drop your vote!