EU funding for sport should be built into the bloc’s next long-term budget and made easier to access directly by sports organisations, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Olympic Committees said after a meeting in Brussels.
The two bodies called on EU co-legislators to embed sport across funding instruments in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028 – 2034, the EU’s seven-year budget plan.
They also asked for “direct and simplified access” to EU funding at national, regional and local level for sports organisations, and for the role of sport in areas such as health, social inclusion, youth engagement and regional development to be explicitly recognised in the next budget framework.
The organisations cited figures that every €1 invested in sport generates around €5 in socio-economic benefits and that the sector contributes 2.12% of EU GDP.
Physical inactivity places an estimated €80 billion annual burden on European healthcare systems, they added.
The call was made at an event held at the Committee of the Regions on 4 June titled “The enabling role of sport to achieve EU objectives and future support via the MFF 2028 – 2034.”
Calls to widen funding beyond Erasmus+
Support through the future Erasmus+ programme — the EU’s main funding scheme for education, training, youth and sport — remains the clearest route for many sports organisations to access EU money, the organisations said.
However, they noted it is still under discussion how far sport will be recognised across the wider MFF, including in National and Regional Partnership Plans and in funds such as the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus.
Sari Rautio and Roberto Pella, members of the Committee of the Regions and rapporteurs on the MFF and on sport and Erasmus+, spoke at the event, alongside MEPs Bogdan Zdrojewski and Sabrina Repp.
Examples were presented from Denmark and Slovenia of National Olympic Committees using Erasmus+ Sport, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus to support projects linked to regional development and public health, while creating opportunities for young people.
The current Erasmus+ 2021 – 2027 cycle allocated €470 million to sport actions and has supported more than 16 million people across education, youth and sport since the programme began.
