1st Bulgaria and Romania to accede to the EU
Bulgaria and Romania will be members of the European Union as of 1 January 2007. The European Commission submitted a recommendation to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to that effect on 26 September 2006.
However, the Commission has provided for so-called safeguard clauses if the two countries do not fulfil the EU standards after their accession. In practice, this would mean a reduction in the financial assistance they receive and limited access to the European single market for certain products and services.
In addition, Bucharest and Sofia are to report to the Commission on their progress every six months. The two countries are called upon to take more vigorous action to combat corruption and organised crime and to continue the reform of their legal system. According to the European Commission, judgements and other judicial acts could not be recognised throughout the EU unless the two accession countries make significant progress.
2nd Workshop reports on the Consultation Conference EU & Sport
From 29th to 30th June, the European Commission held a consultation conference on the role of sport in the EU with the participation of representatives of European sports organisations and sports-related institutions (see monthly report for June 2006). The reports of the workshops on the societal function of sport, the economic impact of sport and the organisation of sport in Europe are now published on the web site of the European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/sport/whatsup/index_en.html
3rd The White Paper on The role of sport in Europe
The European Commission has launched the consultation process on the White Paper on The role of sport in Europe.
A first exchange between representatives of European sports federations and Jan Figel´, the Commissioner responsible for sport, took place on 20 September in Brussels.
In the view of the European Commission, the White Paper should focus in particular on the subject areas of governance in sport, the social role of sport and the economic impact of sport.
It became clear in the course of the meeting that the so-called independent study on European sport is only supported by a few sports federations, mainly commercially-orientated ones.
To date, it has not been the Commissions intention for national umbrella sports organisations to take part directly in the exchange of views on the White Paper.
