[President's Corner] Investing in our Future

On 22 October, the European Parliament followed the report from its Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) and voted to more than double the share of the Erasmus+ budget dedicated to sport, from 1.9% to 4.1%, as part of its position on the 2028–2034 programme. At the same time, MEPs called for the overall Erasmus+ budget to rise to €47.39 billion, well above the €40.8 billion proposed by the European Commission. Adopted as the Parliament's negotiating mandate by 454 votes in favour, 34 against and 93 abstentions, this marks a landmark moment for education, youth and sport in Europe. Compared with the current programme, the Parliament's proposal would contribute to keeping the programme among the EU's most successful initiatives. The message from Europe's elected representatives is clear: sport deserves a stronger place in the European project. This is excellent news for our sector, and we warmly welcome it.

During the current seven-year cycle, sport has received around €500 million from Erasmus+. If the Parliament's position holds, 4.1% of €47.39 billion would mean close to €2 billion for sport between 2028 and 2034 – nearly four times as much. This would be actionable funding that can translate into real impact.

For the Sport for All movement, this means more opportunities for community clubs, local associations and volunteers to cooperate across borders, learn from one another and bring new ideas home. It means more projects that use sport to reach people who are too often left on the sidelines. And it sends a signal far beyond Brussels that sport and physical activity belong at the heart of education, youth and social policy.

Just as importantly, more money means better projects. For grassroots sport, this can bring more innovation and more inclusion in everyday activities. It can give international partnerships the stability to become longer-term, more ambitious networks. And it can keep raising the bar for project standards in areas that matter to our members, from health and social integration to the digital transformation of sport organisations.

Why does this matter to society at large? Because investing in Sport for All means investing in public health, social cohesion and the economy at the same time. In the minds of too many people, sport is still seen as "nice to have" rather than a priority, something to consider only if there happens to be money left over once other higher priority budgets have been funded. At a time when economic uncertainty is prevalent in a lot of countries worldwide, sport is often the first to suffer when budgets shrink. But while this mindset looks at the perceived cost of investing, it completely ignores the cost of inaction. As I was sharing recently, the cost of preventable deaths linked to NCDs alone amounts to USD 500 billion per year. This is also a very steep human cost – WHO estimates that as 1.8 billion adults do not meet the recommended amount of physical activity, this will cause 500 million new cases of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other NCDs in this decade. This is a bill we will continue paying so long as nothing is done to prevent it.

Beyond the high human and economic costs of inaction, investing in Sport for All does not happen in a vacuum: it can actually generate a positive return on investment. The latest Eurostat research on the economic value of sport in the EU estimates that every euro invested in sport returns €1.70 in economic benefits. Looking globally, if the most inactive reached the minimum recommended level of physical activity, the GDP could increase by up to USD 760 billion and health cost savings by USD 20.6 billion by 2050. This doesn't even take into action the many social benefits, from encouraging positive behaviours and attitudes, reducing crime, supporting better results in education and productivity, and generally enhancing the lives and general wellbeing of people by making them happier and healthier. When those outcomes are measured as well, using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) approach, Sport England estimates that every pound invested in community sport and physical activity in England generates GBP 4.38 of social and economic value. Seen in this light, every additional euro Parliament wants to put into Erasmus+ Sport is not a cost but an investment in Europe's future.

This result did not happen by chance. Even with all the evidence available, the case for sport still has to be made. The shape of the next Multiannual Financial Framework for the EU budget (2028–2034) has been discussed in our sector for almost two years. When the European Commission launched its public consultation, we made it a key topic of the TAFISA European Sport for All Forum in Frankfurt last year, gathering the views of our members to share with the Commission. We joined a coalition of over a hundred organisations based or working in Europe, united by the goal of advocating for investment in sport. The Parliament's vote reflects months of advocacy, exchanges with the European Commission, letters to MEPs and awareness raising about the contribution of sport to society.

The journey continues. The Parliament's position will now be negotiated with EU Member States as part of the wider agreement on the EU's long-term budget. The coming months are an opportunity for each of our European members to speak with their own governments, so that the ambition shown by the European Parliament is carried through to the final budget.

For the global Sport for All movement, this is a message of hope. It shows that when we work together as a team, share data and evidence, and speak with one voice, we can effectively reach out to the people who vote on budgets. That is why TAFISA believes in providing a hub for the movement and its stakeholders to meet, connect and exchange, and why we strive to raise the voice of Sport for All on every platform we can reach. It is also why the theme of the next TAFISA World Congress in Gaborone, Botswana (18–20 October 2027), will be "Sport for All: Investing in our Future". The European Parliament has shown what is possible. Let us build on it, in Europe and around the world.

We can make a difference.