On 22 March, UNESDA’s Director General, Sigrid Ligné, took part in the 2018 edition of the EU Sport Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria on the occasion of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Organised yearly, the EU Sport Forum is ‘the place to be’ and the main platform for structured dialogue between the European Commission and key stakeholders – gathering 380 participants this year. The Forum’s main objective is to take stock of progress achieved in implementing the EU agenda for sport and to seek stakeholders’ views on current and future activities.

UNESDA was the only food sector invited and joined a panel discussion on ‘Healthy Lifestyle: What follow-up to the Tartu call for action’. Sigrid Ligné shared the European soft drinks industry’s perspective and contribution to the Tartu Call launched jointly in September 2017 by Commissioner Hogan, Commissioner Andriukaitis and Commissioner Navracsics to support a multi-stakeholder and cross-sector approach to promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles.

The conference was webstreamed and active discussions took place on Twitter via the hashtag #eusportforum.