At the invitation of the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, stakeholders of the Olympic Movement met on 11 September in Lausanne to discuss current European Union (EU) matters. All participants agreed to work together on a detailed definition of the specificity and the autonomy of sport, which needs to be further clarified with regard to the wording on sport in the Lisbon Treaty.
After the meeting, Jacques Rogge said: "It is important that the Sports Movement works in unity to defend and promote its values and structures - also in the European context. This is crucial when we base ourselves on the existing Declaration on Sport annexed to the Nice Treaty, but also when we think in terms of the future and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give sport a legal basis in the EU for the first time. I am glad to see that today the IOC, the European Olympic Committees, the International Federations with their representatives from summer and winter sports, the General Association of International Sports Federations as well as the football world with FIFA and UEFA came together to speak with one voice."
