At the press conference where the athlete's health passport was presented, Viviane Reding said: "Doping raises issues not only of fair play but also, and above all, of athletes' health.

This comes on top of Commission support for anti-doping projects in 2001-2002 (cf. IP/01/1700 of 30 November 2001) and WADA action funded by the Commission in 2001-2002, e.g. the training of independent observers and the development of the 'health passport' for sportsmen/sportswomen, the first of which will be issued next month at the start of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

The Commission will continue to fund the Agency on a case-by-case basis, as it is doing in 2001 and 2002 with two million euros allocated to Agency pilot projects, including the development of a health certificate for athletes.

Since the Prodi Commission took office sport has acquired a new dimension in the Community's work, as evidenced by the attention now paid to the specific nature of sport in Community policies, the declaration on sport in the Conclusions of the Nice European Council, the dialogue with the sports federations, the Commission's contribution towards the setting up of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the financial support provided for doping studies and pilot projects (for example the European Union is supporting the introduction of a "health passport" for athletes), and the launching, in cooperation with the IOC, of a schools information campaig ...[+++]n on ethical values in sport and Olympic ideals (Cf. IP/01/1269 of 14 September 2001).

(3) The model passport should also provide for certifications of other vaccinations, not required under Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 for the movements of dogs, cats and ferrets between Member States, to be included so that the passport provides all the necessary information regarding the health status of the animal in question.

What has been achieved Since 1985 a number of initiatives have been put into effect in response to these new stimuli, of which the most significant are : - 2 - - the issuing of Community passports in most of the Member States (1985-1986); - the mutual recognition of architects' and pharmacists' diplomas (June-September 1985); - the updating to 350 ECU of the duty-free allowance for travellers within the Community (October 1985); - equal access for young people to museums and cultural events (December 1985); - agreement by the Institutions on the use of the European flag (March-April 1986); - abolition of the postal tax known as the ...[+++]customs clearing charge on small consignments (March 1986); - several measures in the health sector, in particular the adoption of a European emergency health card, an anti-cancer campaign and a campaign in the field of toxicology (29 May 1986); - the COMETT programme which aims at giving a Community dimension to cooperation between universities,industry and research centres (7 June 1985).