Sport and the EU
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Article summary
The French State Secretary for European Affairs and Michel Platini reaffirmed their will to defend the specificity of sport.
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Article body
UEFA President Michel Platini held talks with French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, in Paris yesterday. The discussions followed Mr Platini's meeting on Wednesday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and were aimed at preparing for the forthcoming French Presidency of the European Union.
Joint commitment
Mr Jouyet and Mr Platini reaffirmed their joint will to act to defend the specificity of sport and their intention to take all necessary measures on a European level so that sport is no longer considered a commercial activity similar to any other. During the meeting, the Secretary of State and the UEFA President also underlined the need to protect the development of young players and to preserve the European sports model, a model based on a pyramidal structure, solidarity and openness of competitions.
Memorandum signed
On 24 October 2007, France's Secretary of State for European Affairs had signed together with Bernard Laporte, the sports minister, and their Dutch counterparts Frans Timmermans and Jet Bussemaker, a memorandum dealing with all these issues. At the time, this memorandum (click here to read more) received strong support from all European team sports federations, including UEFA. Mr Platini and Mr Jouyet also agreed that the French Presidency of the European Union was a unique opportunity to realise the ideas developed in this memorandum.