Minister Bergqvist visited the Council of Europe in Strasbourg

Sandra Bergqvist, Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity, visited the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 30 and 31 May by invitation of the Council of Europe. The agenda included ways to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law in sports and physical activity.

During the visit, the Minister attended a meeting of the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) of the Council of Europe. In the discussion on the implementation of the European Sports Charter, Minister Bergqvist spoke, in particular, with Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe. 

The European Sports Charter provides guidance to the Member States on how to plan and implement sport policies with a strong ethical value base and outlines how to respect and promote the values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in and by sports. The Monitoring Group of the Council of Europe visited Finland in April to assess how the Charter is being implemented in Finnish sports and will provide a report by the end of the year. 

“A strong ethical value base is at the heart of Finnish sports policy, and this is also recognised and appreciated around the world. I’m pleased to have been invited to the Council of Europe to present our work. We must continue our determined efforts to promote human rights in sport,” says Minister Bergqvist.

During her stay, the Minister also visited the Council of Europe Youth Centre and discussed matters related to sport and young people with Council of Europe’s officials and delegation representatives. 
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The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is an intergovernmental organisation, which focuses on the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe promotes human rights through international conventions, such as the European Convention on Human Rights as well as judgements issued by the European Court of Human Rights, and oversees their the implementation.  Intergovernmental sports co-operation in the Council of Europe also includes three sports conventions (the Anti-Doping Convention, the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions and the Convention on Sports Event Safety and Security)