An EA delegation headed by President Svein Arne Hansen travelled to Brussels on Tuesday to meet Tibor Navracsics, a Member of the Commission with responsibility for sport, with a view to working together on the provision of greater sporting opportunities for recreational runners. 

Hansen said his priority for the meeting was to find ways that European Athletics and its Member Federations could access funding from the Commission’s Erasumus+ programme, which includes a budget of more than €230 million (£169 million/$256 million) for sport projects between 2015 and 2020.

Navracsics opened the meeting by thanking European Athletics for its efforts to promote the Commission’s European Week of Sport initiative earlier this month.

“It was a very cordial and productive meeting that showed us the Commissioner really appreciates the importance of athletics and what we as a sport can deliver,” said Hansen.

“It is clear that he wants to work with us in a number of areas.

“Everyone agreed that athletics, with nearly 50 million recreational runners, a network of Member Federations and more than 20,000 clubs in the 28 EU countries, could play a big role in the Commission’s efforts to promote grassroots sport.”

According to Hansen, specific follow-up actions will now be organised at staff level.

“I have also invited the Commissioner to send representatives to our Clubs System and Youth Conference in November so they can get a deeper understanding of how we in athletics work and see some examples of best practice,” he added.

The European Week of Sport (EWoS), which took place from September 7 to 13, was initiated by the Commission with the aim of raising awareness about the values of sport and physical activity among Europeans.

More than 120 road races signed on to the EWoS website to be a part of the week itself or to promote the event during a promotion period running from September 14 to 30.

The most recent estimates are that as many as 300,000 runners will take part in the registered races.

Assistance with EWoS took place parallel to the promotion of European Athletics’ “Running for All”, which positions European Athletics and its Member Federations as active players in the running market.

Running for All features a system of safety and quality standards for road races developed with the assistance of leading running experts to help races promote themselves and integrate with the wider athletics movement.

Attending the meeting together with Hansen was Vice President Jean Gracia, who chairs the Member Federation Development Commission, and Honorary President Hansjörg Wirz.



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