The Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting in Brussels on 18 November 2010 agreed on a series of conclusions on the role of sport as a source of and a driver for active social inclusion. In this document the Council acknowledges that the sports movement can make an important contribution to issues of public interest such as social inclusion and stressed that this potential should be used at all EU levels in order to allow all citizens, and specially young people, to benefit from it.

Sport holds an important place in the lives of many EU citizens and plays a strong societal role with a powerful potential for social inclusion in and through sport, meaning that participation in sport or in physical activity in many different ways contributes to inclusion into society. This is one of the conclusions reached at the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council held in Brussels on 18 November.

Ministers agreed that access to and participation in diverse aspects of sport is important for personal development, an individual’s sense of identity and belonging.

The Council has identified the following common priorities to promote social inclusion in and through sport:

• Support the "Sport for All" principle based on equal opportunities
• Make better use of the potential of sport as a contribution to community building, social cohesion and inclusive growth
• Support the transnational exchange of strategies and methodologies to make better use of the potential of sport for social inclusion on a national and European level

In view of these priorities, the Council invites Member States and the European Commission to promote sport cooperation on the principle of "Sport for All" based on equal access and equal opportunities, in particular for physically inactive people, following the priority of social inclusion in and through sport. Despite its potential and the important improvement achieved in sports, there is still room for action in fields such as minorities and migrants underrepresentation in sport, as highlighted by a recent report put forward by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

Encouraging and promoting participation in sport of people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as ensuring their inclusion into society through sport by introducing them to new social networks and equipping them with new skills, are ways to ensure such objectives. Council also invites for common action to promote intercultural dialogue by including persons from different cultural backgrounds in society through sport.

Actions related to the mainstreaming of gender equality issues into sports-related activities, especially equal gender access to decision-making positions should also be promoted, as well as addressing sport in connection to gender roles as set out in the Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015.

The Council specially invites the Commission to incorporate the issue of social inclusion in and through sport as a priority for sport cooperation, above all in the upcoming Communication of the European Commission on the Lisbon Treaty and sport, and to ensure that social inclusion is considered in possible future proposals for EU Sport Programmes, as one of the priorities. It also suggests to examine the possibilities of using the existing funds such as the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, and programmes such as the Youth in Action and Lifelong Learning Programmes to support activities in the area of sport.