Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-08-Speech-4-068"
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"en.20080508.4.4-068"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the insertion of the new Article 149 into the Treaty of Lisbon constitutes recognition of the major economic and social role played by sport. The detailed report by Manolis Mavrommatis highlights the numerous areas of life affected by sport, and I should like to look at just a few of them.
The first is the relationship between sport and health: although everyone is well aware by now that physical activity is essential in order to remain in good shape, there is a worrying tendency in certain EU Member States to reduce the number of hours devoted to sport in schools. This trend, combined with a poor diet, is creating an army of obese youngsters, with the possibility of negative repercussions on their physical condition.
Sport is an original and enjoyable way to learn a language. Back in the early 1970s I learned of a very well-organised and widespread system of study vacations in the United Kingdom geared to learning the language of Shakespeare through the practice of various sporting disciplines. Sport ought to support brotherhood among nations, but unfortunately that is not always the case: we regularly witness scenes of indescribable violence inside and outside of stadiums, especially in the case of football.
Amateur and professional sport, uncontaminated and unpolluted sport, sport as a personal development tool, an instrument of cohesion and solidarity among peoples: we are still a long way away from satisfactory standards in Europe, Mr President, and the responsibility lies entirely with politics. We can only hope that the White Paper on Sport will act as a wake-up call and reverse the trend once and for all, so as to make up for an excessive lack of sensitivity and too many sins of omission."@en1
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