Brussels, February 20 Everyone was there, crowding the new offices in Avenue de Cortenbergh and come to testify their wish to cooperate and have their voice heard. Representatives from all the stakeholders were there for the official opening of the EOC EU Brussels Office for EU matters.
On the one hand the representatives of the core partners EOC President Patrick Hickey, IOC President Jacques Rogge and Vice President Thomas Bach, together with delegates from the NOCs of Germany, France and Austria on the other, the EU Commissioner for sport Jan Figel with a hefty from the EU and the European parliament.
Raffaele Pagnozzi, the EOC Secretary General and Kikis Lazarides, the Treasurer, many Executive Committee members, among whom Guy Drut, Kai Holm, Janez Kocijancic, IOC First Vice President Lambis Nikolaou, Craig Reedie, Klaus Steinbach and Claudia Bokel, there to represent the athletes, as well as Lino Farrugia Sacco, Chair of the EOC Audit Committee, were at the celebrations that mark the official opening of the new Brussels office.
A total of more than 80 representatives coming from National Olympic Committees and National Sport Confederations of Europe as well as the European institutions could witness a symbolic baton handover between Mr. Bach and Mr. Hickey.
The new EOC EU office will take over the activities of the former EU Office of German sports, namely to represent the interests of the EOC and its members (national and European non governmental sports organisations) towards the European institutions and to inform them of the legal and financial impact of the EU legislation on sport.
The following European issues will definitely have an impact on the sports movement and will be closely followed this year: the financing of sport and safeguard of the integrity of competitions, the definition of the specificity of sport, the implementation of the EU sport budget line 2009, the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the elections to the European Parliament and the new incoming European Commission.
The EOC President, M. Hickey, stated that “we are at the edge of a substantial change. Sport may become by the end of the year a field of EU competence, depending on the outcome of the Irish referendum.” He also added that “the EOC EU Office is the right tool to optimize our dialogue with the European institutions. We believe in a constructive exchange with the European institutions, and we have enough reasons to believe that it is reciprocal.”