| | Associated Press
LISBON, Portugal -- European Union sports ministers are
striving to harmonize their ideas on the control of
performance-enhancing drugs in sports so they can wield greater
clout in the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The ministers said Wednesday they were determined to fight drugs
in sports through the world agency. But they want their role in the
body to have "a stronger presence ... and more efficiency,"
French sports minister Marie-George Buffet said after an informal
ministerial meeting.
Differences of opinion within the 15-member bloc have undermined
efforts to present a common position.
The ministers recommended the creation of a working group to
examine "the content of the (EU) representation, forms of
financing and a more active participation" of the EU in the world
agency, a statement said.
The ministers dismissed fears, including those voiced by U.S.
drug czar Barry McCaffrey, that the world agency was dominated by
the International Olympic Committee.
The agency is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, also the site of
IOC headquarters. In addition, its $24 million funding is coming
from the IOC. After 2001, member governments are to match that
figure.
The IOC has stressed the authority is split between sporting
institutions and government representatives.
European sports commissioner Viviane Reding said the EU has no
concerns about the way the world agency is run. The agency is
"absolutely independent and transparent," she said.
However, the EU still has to decide whether the funding it
provides to the agency should come from EU governments or the
European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
| |
 |
