European Paralympic Committee

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European Paralympic Committee
Formation2 July 1999
TypeSports federation
HeadquartersVienna, Austria
Membership
49 National Paralympic Committees
Official language
English
President
Ratko Kovačić
WebsiteOfficial website

The European Paralympic Committee (EPC) is an international non for profit organisation which serves a membership of 49 National Paralympic Committees and 9 European branches of disability. Based in Vienna, Austria, the EPC was founded as the IPC European Committee, it was later registered as an independent entity in 1999.[1]

The EPC is responsible for organising the European Paralympic Committee Youth Games. Furthermore, the EPC acts as an organisation which promotes and defends the collective interests of National Paralympic Committees, International Organisation of Sports for the Disabled or International Paralympic Sport Federation and European athletes with disabilities.[1]

The EPC has a democratic structure and the governing body of the organisation is elected every two years through a general assembly, where all registered members are entitled to send delegates and cast their vote. The Committee is made up of a president, secretary-general, treasurer, technical officer, athletes' representative and four members-at-large. The current president is Ratko Kovačić from Croatia, a former table tennis champion.

Member countries[edit]

In the following table, the year in which the NPC was recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is also given if it is different from the year in which the NPC was created.

Nation Code National Paralympic Committee Created Ref.
 Andorra AND Andorran Adapted Sports Federation [1]
 Armenia ARM Armenian Paralympic Committee 1994 [2]
 Austria AUT Austrian Paralympic Committee [3]
 Azerbaijan AZE National Paralympic Committee of Azerbaijan Republic [4]
 Belarus BLR Paralympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus [5]
 Belgium BEL Belgian Paralympic Committee [6]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Paralympic Committee of Bosnia & Herzegovina [7]
 Bulgaria BUL Bulgarian Paralympic Association [8]
 Croatia CRO Croatian Paralympic Committee [9]
 Cyprus CYP Cyprus National Paralympic Committee 1999 [10]
 Czech Republic CZE Czech Paralympic Committee [11]
 Denmark DEN Paralympic Committee Denmark [12]
 Estonia EST Estonian Paralympic Committee [13]
 Faroe Islands FRO Ítróttasambandið fyri brekað - Faroese Paralympic Committee 1980 [14]
 Finland FIN Finnish Paralympic Committee [15]
 France FRA French Paralympic and Sports Committee [16]
 Georgia GEO Georgian Paralympic Committee [17]
 Germany GER National Paralympic Committee Germany [18]
 Great Britain GBR British Paralympic Association 1989 [19]
 Greece GRE Hellenic Paralympic Committee 2001 [20]
 Hungary HUN Hungarian Paralympic Committee [21]
 Iceland ISL Icelandic Sports Association for the Disabled [22]
 Ireland IRL Paralympic Council of Ireland [23]
 Israel ISR Israel Paralympic Committee [24]
 Italy ITA Italian Paralympic Committee [25]
 Kosovo KOS Paralympic Committee of Kosovo 2023[2] [26]
 Latvia LAT Latvian Paralympic Committee [27]
 Liechtenstein LIE Liechtensteiner Behinderten Verband [28]
 Lithuania LTU Lithuanian Paralympic Committee [29]
 Luxembourg LUX Luxembourg Paralympic Committee [30]
 Malta MLT Malta Federation of Sports Associations For Disabled Persons [31]
 Moldova MDA Paralympic Committee of Moldova [32]
 Montenegro MNE Paralympic Committee of Montenegro [33]
 Netherlands NED Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation [34]
 North Macedonia MKD Macedonian Paralympic Committee - Federation for Sport and Recreation for Disabled of Macedonia [35]
 Norway NOR Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports [36]
 Poland POL Polish Paralympic Committee [37]
 Portugal POR Portugal Paralympic Committee [38]
 Romania ROU National Paralympic Committee, Romania [39]
 Russia RUS Russian Paralympic Committee 1996 [40]
 San Marino RSM San Marino Paralympic Committee [41]
 Serbia SRB Paralympic Committee of Serbia [42]
 Slovakia SVK Slovak Paralympic Committee [43]
 Slovenia SLO Paralympic Committee of Slovenia - Sports Federation for the Disabled of Slovenia [44]
 Spain ESP Spanish Paralympic Committee [45]
 Sweden SWE Swedish Parasports Federation [46]
  Switzerland SUI Swiss Paralympic Committee [47]
 Turkey TUR Turkish Paralympic Committee 2002 [48]
 Ukraine UKR National Sports Committee for the Disabled of Ukraine [49]

Events[edit]

European Para Championships[edit]

The European Para Championships are held every four years in the year proceeding the Summer Paralympic Games and have been given the status of a regional games by the European Paralympic Committee.

European Para Youth Games (EPYG)[edit]

The European Para Youth Games is a biennial multi-sport event for young para-athletes aged between 13 and 23.[3][4][5][6]

European Winter Para Sports Event[edit]

The first European Winter Para Sports Event (ParaSki4Europe) was held in 2020 in Poland:

Number Year Host Sports Athletes Countries
1 2020 Poland Czarna Gora, Poland[7][8][9] 4 150 12

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "European Paralympic Committee - About Us". europaralympic.org. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh and Kosovo join IPC and three receive Paralympic Order at General Assembly". 28 September 2023.
  3. ^ "European Para Youth Games line-up revealed".
  4. ^ "2015 European Para Youth Games in Croatia (EPYG 2015)". www.oepc.at. Archived from the original on 2018-11-20.
  5. ^ "Three IBSA sports on 2019 European Youth Games programme - News - IBSA". www.ibsasport.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-20.
  6. ^ "European Para Youth Games - Calendar - IBSA". www.ibsasport.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-19.
  7. ^ "European Winter Para Sports Event, Poland, 2020" (PDF). Europaralympic.org. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. ^ "GAMES & EVENTS". Europaralympic.org. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. ^ "INVITATION" (PDF). Europaralympic.org. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

External links[edit]