§ Mr. GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what European Union funding schemes are available to sports clubs in the United Kingdom for(a) capital and (b) training projects. [17466]
§ Mr. CabornAll European Union funding is channelled towards precise objectives and priorities under the various common policies, which, in turn, are based on provisions of the EU Treaties. The European Union does not have a legal base for sport in its Treaties. As such, there are no funding programmes designated specifically to sport.
However, sports clubs in the United Kingdom may be eligible for funding under other European Union programmes which integrate sport into such actions as regional development or training and education. These programmes include:
Structural Funds/Regional Development Programmes—such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) may be relevant to sports organisations where their activities include vocational training opportunities and/or are part of the economic development of deprived areas. Many of these funding programmes are restricted to specific regions and it is usually national or regional authorities specified in each programme that are fully responsible for the choice of projects. These programmes tend to focus on the development of small and medium enterprises to encourage job creation and social inclusion and require applicants to identify the specific economic and local benefits their scheme will achieve.Vocational Training/Education for young people/Youth Programmes—initiatives such as Leonardo and Socrates support vocational training and cultural exchange programmes for young people. There is a clear emphasis on any Europe-wide dimension to the activities.