Valérie Fourneyron, Minister of Sports, Youth, Popular Education, and Community Life, presented her ministry’s budget for the year 2014, which amounts to €833 million, representing a 14% increase compared to 2013.
Out of the total state budget (€81 billion), the ministry responsible for youth, community life, and popular education has a budget of €449 million. This increase comes from an exceptional allocation of €100 million from the Future Investments Program (PIA2) in favor of youth.
It is a budget that plans for sustainable savings, as the minister explained, by “eliminating duplicate and redundant mechanisms.”
The minister emphasized the government’s “Youth Priority.” This program corresponds to a new conception of public policies, in which the state invests massively to encourage local actors to invent new responses, on a large scale, for youth.
The Youth Priority is reflected in the 2014 budget through strong axes:
– Employment and mobility of young people
– Youth engagement through civic service
– Support for the associative sector and popular education
– A new strategy for the Youth Experimentation Fund
Among these budgetary priorities, mobility, a key element in the training of young people and employment policy, will receive €29 million in 2014.
The second priority of the ministry in this sector is youth engagement, through the increased focus on civic service in 2014. This corresponds to a goal of at least 31,000 volunteers hosted, amounting to an investment of €149 million.
The minister launched the budgetary priorities for the year 2014 in the sports sector:
– Access to sports for all
– Sport as a tool for public health
– Enhancing France’s presence on the international sports scene
– Individual support for high-level athletes
– Increased attention to the fight against doping in France, internationally, and against match-fixing
As for the sports federations, which are at the heart of the so-called French sports model, they continue to represent more than 30% of the available funds for the entire program. “After the effort made in 2013, their budget in 2014 will be generally stabilized at €83 million.”
Furthermore, Valérie Fourneyron reminded of the human resources made available once again to the federations: more than 1600 technical and sports advisors (CTS) will have the responsibility to support them, representing an investment of €105 million, funded by the State.
Regarding high-level sports, the minister reiterated that it is one of her priorities. The funds allocated to it will increase by 2.5% compared to 2013.
Finally, Valérie Fourneyron recalled her desire to continue the reform of the CNDS, the recovery of its accounts (in 2012, a critical debt situation of this organization was noted), and the redefinition of its missions, including the development of sports practices and the fight against inequalities in access across the territory.
Photo credit: https://www.gouvernement.fr
