On 01st July 2009, the first meeting of the EU Working Group "Education and Training in Sport" took place in Brussels. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Michal Krejza, Head of the EC Sport Unit, and gathered representatives from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the European Commission (DG EAC). Together with the EOC EU Office, the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE) participated as observer of the meeting.
The following conclusions (extract only) were agreed in the course of the meeting:
- The WG underlined the importance of the presence of two European sport organisations as observers and the future involvement of athletes (via the EOC EU Office), especially in the discussions on dual careers.
- The WG will exchange information and good practices in the field of combined training and education for young sports people.
- If the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, a possible Sport Programme should take dual training into account.
- The WG was informed about EQF and ECVET. Further information about sport-related projects in this field will be distributed to MS by DG EAC. EQF could help prove that a person has a certain level of qualification in a sport profession. However, its realisation in practice should be further discussed. Especially the relation between EQF and the system for recognition of professional qualifications (supervised by DG MARKT) should be clarified. Clarification regarding links to the Services Directive is also needed. The Commission will take action.
- COM encouraged the WG to support the development of ECVET-related projects as well as follow-up on the matter with national ministries and national experts. It would be in the interest of the sport sector to have sport represented in the ECVET tools.
- COM would look into the possibility of organising exchange of information between national sport and education experts on EQF and ECVET together with EOSE.
The next meeting of the WG would take place in London in December 2009. The topic "Sport and physical activity in a school environment" would be discussed among other topics.
The minutes of the meeting are available on the official website of the
EC Sport Unit.