Brussels, 28 November 2007

Secretary of State,

Honourable Members of the European Parliament,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I

It is an honour for me to open today’s conference. I would like to welcome many distinguished guests who have kindly accepted our invitation to share their views and experience with us.

Your insight is going to be extremely important for us when it comes to designing and implementing a Europe–wide strategy against violence in sport. I appreciate the close co–operation between the services of Vice- President Commissioner Frattini and my services, as well as with UEFA.

This conference could not have occurred at a more appropriate time. Important developments have taken place in the past few months that have strengthened the role of sport in EU policy making. In July, the Commission adopted the White Paper on Sport, its first comprehensive policy document in this area. The Reform Treaty finalised in Lisbon last month has included provisions on sport. This inclusion will extend the competence of the Union to sport for the first time.

II

Turning now to the problem at hand, I have to say that the prospects are not rosy at all. The issue of violence in sport—both inside and around sport facilities—is unfortunately a recurrent feature.

We have to realise that sport can get the best and the worst out of people. The challenge for public authorities and opinion leaders is to allow sport to deploy its potential to the full while curbing its negative impact.

This was a terrible month for violence in sport. On November 11, a soccer fan travelling to watch an away match was shot dead by the police. The incident happened miles away from the stadium after two groups of rival fans had a scuffle at a service station along the motorway.

It was a sad and unusual incident which is still being investigated by Italian authorities. The reaction of hooligans when the news spread was more significant. Fans from rival teams joined forces to attack police stations and stage urban–guerrilla actions in at least four cities. Three top league matches were called off on the day of the shooting and Italy’s football authorities cancelled all matches the following week.

The question then is, is this a sport–related problem or not? Is this more than just isolated outbreak of violence from groups of frustrated individuals? Is this really the worst side of the sport movement in action, or are we talking about people who take football as a pretext for acts of violence they would commit anyway? And why do some sports seem to attract violence in a way that others do not?

Is this primarily a challenge for our police and security forces or is concerted action within the world of sport also needed to prevent this sort of incident from happening again? There are no easy answers to these questions. Of one thing I am sure, though: this type of violence is totally unacceptable and I condemn it wholeheartedly.

And we must be clear that the violence of hooligans is absolutely damaging to sport. Those people do not represent any sport organisation, nor do they get any support or endorsement from them. On the other hand, we ought to recognise that groups of supporters are linked to sports events and organisations in one way or another—including organised groups of troublemaking supporters.

So, the best answer is to pull together all our resources. Security, intelligence and policing are one part of the solution; another part is to engage in a constructive and frank dialogue with the sport movement. This way, we can attack the problem from all sides.

It is the responsibility of interior and justice ministries, police and customs authorities of Member States to look at how such outbreaks of violence can be prevented, and how they can be managed when they occur. In this context, Vice-President Frattini and his services have the role to co–ordinate action at European level when needed.

My role and that of my services—the Directorate General for Education and Culture—is to insert the issue into our structured dialogue with the sport movement and with national authorities in charge of sport. We have to change the culture surrounding certain sports and we can only do that through dialogue.

I see this conference as an important chapter in this dialogue. Today and tomorrow you will work on these issues in a very practical, problem–focussed way and I am looking forward to the conclusions you will adopt.

III

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Our dialogue with the sport movement is closely linked to the White Paper on Sport, and I would like to explain this to you in some more detail. The White Paper was adopted in July this year and recently endorsed at a meeting of Sports Ministers in October. The White Paper on Sport includes also a section on Racism and violence. These are not the same thing, of course, but they are certainly linked.

In our policy document we recognise that violence at sport events has been shifting from inside stadiums to the areas outside, including urban areas. In the White Paper we stress our commitment to the prevention of violent incidents by promoting dialogue with all relevant partners at international, national, regional and local levels.

We are aware that law enforcement authorities cannot deal with the problem alone. The underlying causes of violence in sport must be tackled and a multi–actor approach is needed.

Our work to develop a European sports policy does not look only at the principles; we have also put forward a series of possible practical actions that can implement them. These are included in the “Pierre de Coubertin” Action Plan, which complements the White Paper. Among these suggestions, you can find that the Commission encourages the exchange of best practices and of operational information related to supporters who pose a potential risk of violence. These exchanges should involve police services and sport authorities. Particular importance should be given to police training on crowd management and hooliganism.

IV

Ladies and Gentlemen:

As so much in life, managing human aggression depends to a large extent on having a good method and following it. Therefore, the Commission recommends that sport organisations survey existing experiences, and set up procedures that would prepare them to deal with episodes of violence and racist abuse during matches.

In addition, we call upon all the parties concerned to look into the possibility for new legal instruments and other EU–wide standards to prevent public disorder at sport events. In other words, the escalation of sport–related violence may require an effort of imagination on the part of the public authority.

In the past, many successful cases of reduction of sport–related violence have involved good co–operation with other actors, including fan communities. This is why we recommend promoting a multidisciplinary approach to preventing anti–social behaviour. Here the focus should be on socio–educational actions targeting supporters. What we envisage is long–term work with supporters to develop a positive and non–violent attitude.

Finally, let me confirm that the EU sports policy—still in its nascent stage—will always be the ultimate responsibility of national authorities and autonomous governance bodies of sport. However, a range of existing EU programmes can already be used to fight against violence and racism in sport. I am thinking of the youth and citizenship policies under my responsibility, and of some programmes under the responsibility of Vice- President Frattini, such as DAPHNE III, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, and Prevention of and Fight against Crime.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have tried to give you my views on a complex issue: sport–related violence involves a very large number of factors. Hooliganism can be regarded as the symptom of broader social ills; it can be ignited by the irresponsible behaviour of some players; and it is related in worrying ways to the media and to their coverage of sports events and of anything related to them.

But I have also illustrated the principles and the suggested actions for implementation of the fledgling sports policy of the EU.

V

To conclude, I would like to share a wish with you.

I love sport for its power to entertain, educate, and contribute to a healthy population. Athletic games are an ancient conquest of our civilisation and one of the highest to date.

When I see people—no matter how many or few—using sporting events as public stages for their acts of violence, I feel that something important and beautiful is lost. This is sad and totally unacceptable. It is like breaking a sacrilege, defiling an old painting, polluting our most cherished cultural wells.

I hope we can all come together and cure this social plague for good. I hope we can all return to our sports grounds of choice in a safe, festive environment, with our children and families.

This conference is certainly a first step in the right direction; I wish you a fruitful debate and I am looking forward to your contributions and conclusions.

Thank you.