Council of Europe

The Council of Europe’s Anti-Doping Convention is an intergovernmental agreement that has been ratified by the parliaments of the Member States.

The Council of Europe’s Anti-Doping Convention is an intergovernmental agreement that has been ratified by the parliaments of the Member States. The Convention requires the parties to create prerequisites for anti-doping work in their own countries. The application of the Convention is monitored through regularly evaluating the anti-doping activities in the Member States.

CEO of Anti-Doping Norway, Anders Solheim, was the Chair of the Monotoring Group from May 2014 to May 2018. During his term, the Monotoring Group focused on and worked to promote separation of powers and good governance in sport and anti-doping. Anders Solheim is still very much involved as Chair of an ad-hoc Committee for Human Rights and Athletes.

Anti-Doping Norway assists the Norwegian Ministry of Culture in the monitoring group meetings and working group meetings for legal, scientific, educational and information collection matters. The monitoring group has significantly supported European countries in the creation of anti-doping systems. This monitoring group has also prepared many matters associated with the establishment of WADA, such as those related to WADA’s legal status and funding as well as matters pertaining to the preparation of codes and standards.

The Convention and its monitoring system have been a model for the UNESCO Convention through which various states can join in WADA’s activities.

The Council of Europe is an important arena for Norwegian participation in international anti-doping work. Norway was the first country to be evaluated twice, latest in 2006. The conclusion was that The Norwegian anti-doping system fulfils, with a good margin, the commitments under the Council of Europe’s Anti-Doping Convention. They also describe the international co-operation as impressive.