On 24-25 May, a team of Council of Europe experts carried out a support and follow up visit to Lisbon to further the implementation of the European Sports Charter (ESC) within Portuguese legislation and policies. The ESC is the Council of Europe standard which lays down the basic principles for national sports policies, allowing governments to support and provide opportunities for the practice of sport for all under well-defined conditions.

The team met with the key stakeholders playing an active role in the implementation of a values-based sport in Portugal, including João Paulo Correia, Secretary of State for Youth and Sport and Vitor Pataco, President, Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), as well as representatives from the sports movement including the Olympic and Paralympic Committees, non-organised sport, athletes, the media and others.

This visit was part of the EPAS mandate, where each year it supports the implementation of the ESC among its member states.

The team consisted of Solène Charuau (Head of European and International Affairs at the Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, France), Chair of the visit and member of the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), Alexandre Husting (Luxemburg), Rapporteur of the visit and Chair of the Governing Board of EPAS,  Janez Sodržnik, bureau member of the EPAS Consultative Committee, and two members of the EPAS Secretariat.

The findings, recommendations and good practices identified during the visit will be gathered in a report to be transmitted to the Portuguese authorities for the implementation of its tailored recommendations. The adopted report will be made available to the public in 2023 on our website.