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On 13 October 2010, after three years of existence, the Committee of Ministers established the Enlarged partial Agreement on a permanent basis. Following the accession of Morocco as the first extra-European state, it now counts 33 member states; eight new sports organizations joined its Consultative Committee.
EPAS activities focused on standard development (draft recommendations on the fight against manipulation of sports results, as well as on migration in sport and the protection of minors). Another priority theme was the promotion of diversity and the fight against discrimination in sport.
The EPAS organized the 18th Informal Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport in Baku (Azerbaїjan), which had its major theme the promotion of sport’s integrity against manipulation of results. The Conference also supported a stronger co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union in the sport sphere.
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In 2009, sport was the year of implementing the results of the 11th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Sport (Athens, Greece, December 2008).
The EPAS contnued to expand its activities and to grow the number of its member states to 32 with the accession of Belarus, Armenia and the Russian Federation. Morocco was the first non-European country to apply for membership.
The EPAS Consultative Committee held its first meeting in Baku (Azerbaїjan), in May.
EPAS activities focused on updating the Code of Ethics and preparing Draft CM Recommendations on the principle of autonomy in sport, on problems related to migration flows of young sports people and on match-fixing and bribery.
EPAS also organized international and regional activities against racism and violence in sport and on intercultural dialogue.
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In 2008, the EPAS programme of activities concentrated on three areas of work: the organisation of the 11th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Sport; the autonomy of the sports movement in Europe, including a country-by-country survey; and campaign activities on combating racism and discrimination in sport.
The highlight of the activity programme has been the 11th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Sport (Athens, December). This conference provided an opportunity for sports ministers from the 49 states of the European Cultural Convention, as well as senior officials from international organisations involved in sport, to discuss the theme of “Ethics and autonomy in sport”.
In 2008, Albania, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland joined EPAS, bringing the number of EPAS members to 29 countries.
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On 11 May, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) was created with a view to establishing international standards and developing a framework for pan-European intergovernmental co-operation.
Some 19 countries have so far adhered to EPAS: Andorra, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia,Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway,San Marino, Slovenia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and the United Kingdom. The Russian Federation and UEFA are observers.
In the field of sport, the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention has contributed significantly to the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code. An Informal Meeting of the European Sports Ministers took place in Madrid in November on the margins of the World Conference on the Fight against Doping organised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), during which the European states expressed criticism of the way in which current co-operation between the public authorities of the five continents was taking place. The modalities of this cooperation should be revised so as to ensure that the level of effective influence by European states within WADA better corresponds to the relatively important commitment of the European states both as regards the fight against doping and WADA itself.
More than 300 contributions presented at the International Conference on Sport, Violence and Racism in Europe (Rennes, April 2007) were published. States selected for Euro 2008 have been networked among themselves, as well as with their neighbours and countries of transit to Austria and Switzerland, hosts of this competition, and kept informed about the preparations of the tournament.
Three countries have received targeted counselling based on the visits of experts, in the field of doping (Iceland and Romania) and in the field of spectator violence (Italy).
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In the sector of Sport, the 17th Informal Meeting of European Ministers of Sport (Moscow, October) gave rise to almost unanimous support for the creation of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS).
As a result, the Committee of Ministers decided to set up this body. Other activities under the transitional measures programme included, in particular, a policy indicators
questionnaire, follow-up to the “Ballons rouges” project and implementation of its fi nal activity on training of young sports leaders and multipliers from Georgia and Azerbaijan, and the round table for SPRINT (Sports Reform, Innovation and Training)
countries on the issues of social responsibility of sport and good governance.
In the context of the Convention against Spectator Violence and Misbehaviour at Sports Events and in particular at Football Matches, co-ordination meetings and an evaluation meeting on the Football World Cup 2006 have taken place. A camp for 100 young
supporters from European countries was organised in Germany as a contribution to the “All different – All equal” campaign.
Pilot projects were launched with the handbook on development of supporters’ charters at local level. The standing committee reviewed all existing recommendations in view of the publication of a book presenting the know-how developed in the framework of the convention since 1985. Evaluation visits (Cyprus, Denmark and Norway) and an advisory visit (Tunisia) took place in the context of monitoring implementation of the Anti-Doping Convention.
A conference on the fight against trafficking of doping substances established the need for better standards on this issue. The European Co-ordination Forum on the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) adopted pan-European positions of European public authorities to prepare meetings of WADA governing bodies.
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