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]
Formation | 2 July 1999 |
---|---|
Type | Sports federation |
Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
Membership | 49 National Paralympic Committees |
Official language | English |
President | Ratko Kovačić |
Website | Official website |
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.
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] |
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.
The European Para Youth Games is a biennial multi-sport event for young para-athletes aged between 13 and 23.[3][4][5][6]
The first European Winter Para Sports Event (ParaSki4Europe) was held in 2020 in Poland:
Number | Year | Host | Sports | Athletes | Countries |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2020 | Czarna Gora, Poland[7][8][9] | 4 | 150 | 12 |