The concept of sport diplomacy at the EU level was introduced by the European Commission in 2015. The High Level Group on Sport Diplomacy, which was created in 2015 at the request of Commissioner Navracsics, delivered a Report with several recommendations in June 2016. Following this work, Council Conclusions on Sport Diplomacy were adopted by all the EU Ministers responsible for sport in November 2016.
The European Union Work Plan for Sport (2017-2020) acknowledges the need to cooperate with third countries, in particular candidate countries and potential candidates to the EU, to promote European values through sport diplomacy and invites the European Commission to carry out the present study. The EU’s sport diplomacy agenda has also raised specific questions regarding the ways in which the EU could support the use of sport as a tool to support external relations.
The key objective of the study has been to identify good practices, supported at national, European and international level in sport projects having an international dimension, namely involving non-EU Member States as well as projects which contributed to building a stronger position of a country on the international scene.
The case study research has highlighted particular projects where the skills, knowledge and expertise of Member States’ sports federations and NGOs have been applied successfully in countries outside of the EU. The good practice projects cover a range of themes including disadvantaged young people, disability, gender, health, refugees, and major events.
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