European Week of Sport

The European Week of Sport is a successful initiative of the European Commission. The goal of the European Week of Sport is to promote participation in sport and physical exercise and to raise awareness among the general public for the numerous advantages of an active life.

An alarming trend can be observed throughout Europe: 59% of Europeans seldom or never do any sporting activities. This not only damages the health and well-being of the population; it also affects the economy. The consequences are increased expenditure in the health care sector, reduced productivity in the workplace, and lower levels of employability in the labour market.

The first European Week of Sport took place in 2015 with considerable involvement on the part of Austria.

In the first two years, the Sports Division of the Ministry for the Civil Service and Sport took on the function of the National Coordinator of the EWoS (European Week of Sport).

Since 2017, national coordination has been carried out by the BSO (Federal Sports Organisation). Within the framework of the Austrian Presidency of the EU, the Federal Ministry for the Civil Service and Sport organised the pan-European opening event which took place on 22 September 2018 as part of the Day of Sport in Prater Park in Vienna. Alongside the EU Commissioner for Sport Tibor Navracsics and the Vice-Chancellor and Sports Minister Heinz-Christian Strache, numerous important international representatives of organised sport were present.

The kick-off event of the European week normally takes place in the Member State which currently holds the EU Presidency.