The Council of Europe's member states representatives, forming the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), accompanied by the Consultative Committee, held their annual meeting in Strasbourg (FRA) on June 5 and 6, 2019. The European University Sports Association (EUSA), being a member of the EPAS Consultative Committee, was represented at the event as well.

The meeting was attended on behalf of EUSA by its Communications and Projects Manager Mr Andrej Pisl. The meeting was also an opportunity for networking, discussion and promotion of EUSA and its partners, the activities and projects.



Lead by the Chair of the Consultative Committee, Mr Jens Sejer Andersen, the members review the annual activities, discussed about educational activities and programmes, reviewed the applications and renewals of the organisations in the consultative committee, adopted a proposal for revision of the Terms of Reference of committee, and engaged in a panel discussion on gender identity in sport, focusing on the case of Caster Semenya. The members of the EPAS Consultative Committee later joined annual plenary meeting with the Governing Board, lead by Mr Zoran Verovnik as the Chair and Mr Stanislas Frossard as the Secretary General.



The joint meeting of the EPAS Governing Board and the EPAS Consultative Committee discussed the reports and recent news, including the conferences of ministers responsible for sport, and the 2020-21 programme of activities. The first day concluded with a round table event on the subject of Sport and Media Freedom.



The second day was dedicated to the current activities and projects, focusing on the three pillars - ethical sport (tackling corruption and promoting good governance, sport and human rights), inclusive sport (promoting diversity and fighting against discrimination, migrants and their integration through sport) and safe sport (martial arts and combat activities, inclusion of children and their protection in sport) and topics covering all three pillars (sport for all, the European Sports Charter and its revision).



In 2019, the Council of Europe is celebrating its 70th anniversary, focusing on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Based on the Council of Europe’s general sports standards, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) was established in 2007 in order to give fresh momentum to pan-European sports co-operation; address the current challenges facing sport in Europe; make sport healthier, fairer and well governed and ensures that it conforms to high ethical standards.

For more information, please visit https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/epas/