ENTERPRISING SPECIAL Olympics managing director Mary Davis welcomed the president of the European Union Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, into the Dublin offices of the Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia (SOEE) yesterday afternoon.

The president was attending a seminar on “The Importance of the Lisbon Treaty for Sports in Europe”, on the invitation of SOEE.

The seminar heard calls to ratify the Lisbon Treaty and was told that a Yes vote would enhance the visibility of sport in EU policy making, allowing the European Union a legal base to support member states in this regard.

To date 53 policy actions outlined in the EU White Paper on Sports, published in July 2007, have not been implemented because there is no legal framework existing in Europe to deal with sporting issues.

The White Paper also states that the commission will take into account the importance of sport for disabled people and will support actions in this field.

Buzek was also reminded that next year the European Special Olympic Games take place in Warsaw, Poland.

“If the Lisbon Treaty is ratified the key policy goals of the EU White Paper on sport can and will then be fully implemented at EU level,” said Davis.

“We will see a policy based on the ‘sports for all’ concept and one which will ensure that everyone in society can benefit from participating in sport in and equal, fair and non-discriminatory manner,” added Davis

As is often the case, funding was one of the prime issues with SOEE having applied for €15 million from the EU Commission to financially support Special Olympics development across the 27 member states.

“We are taking care of sport in the Union so we can support it much more in the future than we have in the past,” said the president.

“We must be united, integrated, not just in sport but in everything,” added Buzek.