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11th ENGSO General Assembly was organised by the Swedish Sport Confederation in Stockholm. Minutes of the 11th General Assembly was distributed to the member organizations by mail.

ENGSO General Assembly decides on sport political priorities for 2003/2004

 Bengt Sevelius re-elected for another period as ENGSO President

On the occasion of the 100^th Anniversary of the Swedish Sports Confederation, the
11^th ENGSO General Assembly took place in Stockholm April 25 – 26, 2003. We started with a seminar which had been organised by the ENGSO Working Group on EU and Sport for ENGSO delegates coming from EU countries and applicant countries. Very relevant and important information was provided by the EU Office of German Sports (Brussels) on current sport political develop­ments at EU level and the positioning of sport within the context of the European Convention process. The European Year of Education through Sport (EYES) 2004 and its chances for the promotion of the pedagogical values of sport was another top issue. The Swedish hosts gave practical examples of projects eligible for financial support by the EU. They under­lined that in particular participants from applicant countries should carefully study the differ­ent possibilities for EU funding of sport-related projects. Several EU funding programmes were available at regional and national levels, which probably could and should be used for sport development in their respective countries. 

The General Assembly adopted a plan of action 2003 – 2004. Besides EU issues it will concentrate on the following areas: 

Ø             projects to strengthen East-West co-operation

Ø             further development and implementation of youth issues and sport youth policy within the framework of the new ENGSO Youth Structure (e.g. follow-up of ENGSO Youth Sport Guidelines)

Ø             co-operation and partnership between GO and NGO

Ø             strengthening of links and co-operation with other European partners (e.g. EOC, EWS, some selected European sport federations as well as with the CDDS/Council of Europe)

Ø             further improvement of external and internal communication and PR

Ø             promotion of gender mainstreaming in all policy areas of ENGSO 

You will recall that after a transition period of two years, at Stockholm we started to fully implement the new system of rotation regarding positions of officials and members within the Executive Committee. For this reason there were vacancies to be filled and/or positions to be re-elected or newly elected. As a result of the elections at Stockholm it can be announced that 

l               Bengt Sevelius (Sweden) was re-elected as ENGSO President for his third and last full mandatory period;

l               Gernot Wainig (Austria) became ENGSO Treasurer, succeeding in this position Marco Blatter (Switzerland) who had decided not to stand for another period;

l               Kristin Berthelsen (Norway) was elected for her first official period after she had already taken part in the activities of the Executive Committee as a co-opted member in her previ­ous capacity as Chairwoman of the ENGSO Youth Working Group;

l               Carlos Cardoso (Portugal) was re-elected as a member for another four years

l               Jean-François Angles (France) was elected for two years (to cover the remaining period of Gernot Wainig, who had become Treasurer), after which period Angles ist entitled to stand for re-election for full terms. 

All other positions in the Executive Committee (officials and members) were not up for (re)-election this time.

There is, however, a special news to be reported:

The constitution of the first ENGSO Youth Assembly at Stockholm represents an important event which reaches out and will be decisive for the future of ENGSO:

Under the roof of ENGSO we have created a platform for young people and future leaders in European sports in order to give them a say and add their visions to what will be tomorrow's European Sport Movement. Rosemary Paul was elected Chairwoman of the first ENGSO Youth Committee. "Ex officio" in this capacity, she will be fully involved in the work of the ENGSO Executive Committee and ensure close links and co-operation, in all decision-making processes, with both, the adults and the young generation in ENGSO. 

ENGSO is particularly grateful to the Swedish hosts under the guidance of the President of the Swedish Sports Confederation. On the occasion of their 100^th Anni­versary they have invited delegates from all European ENGSO countries and special guests to celebrate together with them this event. They have not only given us an outstanding example of great hospitality, warm friendship and an excellent working environment. Moreover we were encouraged and animated to combine work and togetherness , fun and activity, especially when mixing with our ENGSO Youth during the meeting and during the by-programme, which highlighted once more the spirit of our "ENGSO family", in the best sense of the word!. 

We all enjoyed very informative, constructive and pleasant days in beautiful Stockholm, and we say once more "Thank You" to Swedish Sports and "All the best for the coming 100 years!" 
 

Marlis Rydzy-Götz
ENGSO Secretary General