Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-01-Speech-3-305-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120201.18.3-305-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, firstly I wish to congratulate you on being elected President. I am pleased that we have a President who is keen on sports in Parliament, even if it is just for a while. I also wish to thank Mr Fisas Ayxela for an excellent report, and, likewise, the Commissioner, who has done an excellent job in the Commission in the area of sport. It is of course true that sport is Europe’s biggest popular movement. It needs to be spoken about, and it is important that we also stake out a clear role for it in the European Union.
Now that a legal basis has been established, it is important that we move towards real solutions. This report provides excellent guidance on what is achieved through sport, because we know its effects on health, and we know its other social effects in terms both of well-being and integrating people society. We also know how sport is important when we are fighting against racism and many other unpleasant phenomena at European level.
It is also important to ensure that there is funding. In this connection, I would like to say that I obviously hope that there will be adequate funds in the budgetary framework for sport, allowing us to reach its grassroots. However, it is also important to protect national monopolies. Veikkaus, the Finnish national lottery and sports betting company, is a good example of how to fund activities at grassroots level. It will need to remain.
Finally, I wish to say something about this issue of the EU flag, which the British Tories have made so much of. Surely it does not bother anyone now if the flag occasionally flies in the European Union. I am sure, besides, that it does not have to be used for team strips. However, perhaps the biggest piece of news for me today was when Mr Nuttall, talking about football, said that countries should support the idea that Great Britain will one day play as its own single team, under the flag of one Great Britain. I have to say that this is an unexpected point of view, and I think that it is a very welcome one."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples