The European Union (EU) decided Tuesday to enhance sports diplomacy, namely, to influence diplomatic, intercultural, social, economic and political relations through the use of sports.

The decision was made at a meeting of the EU's Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council, which was held on Monday to Tuesday.

The council invited member states to explore the potential of better using sports at the national level, in particular through education and the involvement of well-known athletes as messengers, to promote positive sporting and European values.

The council responded warmly to the decision to hold a European Year of Cultural Heritage in 2018, which is designed to "raise awareness of the richness of European cultural heritage and the opportunities it can offer and to share the European values and ideals embedded in cultural heritage," according to a press release of the European Council.