The Dutch Olympic and national athletics committee is pressing ahead with efforts to host the 2019 European Games, the organisation says on its website.

The plans for organising the games will be discussed by NOC*NSF members at a special annual meeting on April 28 and the board says it is ‘looking forward to the gathering with confidence’.

The vote will allow member sports to show ‘how important hosting the event will be to the Netherlands’ and ‘send a clear signal’ to potential partners.

The European Games are a new event in the international sports calender and will be held every four years. The first games take place in Baku in Azerbaijan this June and will feature 20 sports involving swimming, gymnastics and athletics.

The host city for 2019 will be announced in May and the decision will be taken on the basis of negotiations rather than bidding to minimise costs.

As well as a combination of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, cities in Belarus, Poland, Russia and Turkey are thought to be in the running.