Dr Milan Zver, the Slovenian Minister for Sport and Education and current President of the EU Education, Youth and Culture Council, will chair the informal meeting of Sports Ministers from the EU Member States, Norway and the Western Balkan countries entitled ‘Towards a more structured dialogue in sport’ to be held at Brdo pri Kranju on 17 March 2008.
In their morning session, the Ministers will discuss the future of sport and, specifically, how sport can be incorporated as one of the central themes of European Union policy. The core subjects for discussion also include the implementation of the White Paper on Sport and the ‘Pierre de Coubertin’ Action Plan as well as the issue of doping in sport which – with the establishment of a new EU working group on combating doping – is becoming an important new area of interest to the EU.
At the special invitation of the Slovenian Presidency, the meeting will be attended by the Presidents of the National Olympic Committees of the EU Member States and the President of the European National Committee, Mr Patrick Hickey. This will be the first time that a joint meeting of Sports Ministers and Olympic Committee Presidents has been convened. This is particularly important, given that one of the main objectives of the meeting is to place emphasis on a more structured dialogue in sport between governmental and civil domains as well as on future cooperation between all stakeholders in developing EU policy on sport.
After the meeting, the Slovenian Minister of Education and Sport will present a special award to NLB League ABA (Adriatic Basketball Association) organisers ‘Sidro’ in acknowledgement of their efforts and achievements in bringing diverse cultures together through sport. They have provided an exceptionally positive model of the role of sport in modern society and – in 2008, the Year of Intercultural Dialogue – the operation of the league can be considered a prime example of good practice.
