On 1 December 2014, the European Olympic Committees, represented by President Patrick Hickey, signed a partnership agreement with the European Commission on the European Week of Sport (EWoS). The Commission was represented by the new European Commissioner for Sport, Mr. Tibor Navracsics. A signature ceremony was organised in the framework of the EU Sport Forum in Milan to formalise this agreement.
With this partnership agreement, the EOC commits to encourage its members to contribute to the objectives of the European Week of Sport. In this regard, the EOC recommends to link existing national sport events organised by the Olympic Movement, such as events in the framework of the Olympic Day (on 23 June) to the European Week of Sport. Many National Olympic Committees have already established successful events at national level. The implementation of the Week should therefore be in close cooperation with the NOCs. Furthermore, the EOC agrees to use its communicational tools to inform its members and to actively promote the European Week. The EOC EU Office will play an important role in this regard and has already contributed to the discussions on the future EWoS during the Advisory Board, which recently met on 14 October and 12 November.
The European Commission also took the occasion of the EU Sport Forum to provide more details on the EWoS. This Week will take place between Monday 7 and Sunday 13 September 2015. At European level, there will be a number of focus days with a particular emphasis on the “location” to practice sports and be physically active. Saturday and Sunday will be specifically dedicated to sport clubs. These focus days will be combined with one flagship event related to a specific topic (e.g. gender equality in sport). For the coordination of the national week, the countries have been asked to appoint national coordinators. It is likely that a number of NOCs will take up this role.
With a specific call for proposals within the Erasmus+ Sports Programme with a deadline on 22 January 2015, the European Commission intends to finance not-for-profit European sport events and collaborative partnerships specifically related to the EWoS. Specific criteria, such as on the amount of partners or the average grant, have been drawn up. More information can be found on the website of the Sport Unit of the European Commission.
Together with the EOC, 13 other organisations (ACES Europe, EFCS, ENGSO, EPFL, EuropeActive, European Golf, FESI, FIFPRO, ISCA, ICSS Europe, Special Olympics, TAFISA and UEFA) signed a similar partnership on the EWoS.