The Future of Sports Law in the European Union
Beyond the EU Reform Treaty and the White Paper
A cura di: Roger Blanpain - Michele Colucci - Frank Hendrickx
Sport is
life, fun, passion but also business. it is not easy to draw a bright line
between sport as an economic activity and sport as a crucial cultural element
of society. In Europe, The stakes are prodigious from either perspective. On
the one hand, sport represents 4% of the GDP of the European Union; on the
other, there are in the EU more than 800,000 sport clubs with more than 70
million members. In numerous ways, The former depends on the latter, giving
rise to a plethora of subtle tensions. For decades the EU institutions have
struggled with the legal issues that arise from these tensions, And The debate
has come to be encapsulated in the complex concepts of the 'sport exception'
And The 'specificity of sport.' Now, The pending Reform Treaty, if ratified,
will finally provide a legal basis for a Community action in the field of
sport. This new collection of essays presents nine well-informed and insightful
analyses of the 'specificity' debate from several distinct points of view. The
book reprints the papers presented by outstanding academics as well as
representatives of the sport world at a conference on the 'Future of Sport in
the European Union' held at the Catholic University of Brussels in December
2007. The authors examine the legal and political issues related To The latest
developments at the EU level, and their impact on the sport organisations, in
order to better Understand The future of sport and to answer the questions
which will inevitably arise from the new situation. Among the topics arising in
the course of the presentations are the following: pure 'sporting interest' vs.
'economic activities' within the overall meaning of Article 2 EC; whether the
EU legal order in fact applies to sport activities; application of EC law to
rules governing the composition of national sports teams, especially as defined
in Bosman and Meca Medina cases; relation of sport to freedom of association
And The principle of subsidiarity; initiatives to share use of financial gains
from television rights; role of bylaws and other regulations of federations at
every level; responsibility of sport organisations vis-Ā-vis the rules of
public order; freedom of labour and free movement of workers as applied to
sportsmen and sportswomen; the right to privacy, image included; the 'European
sport model'; protection of young sportsmen and sportswomen from commercial
pressures; and economic and social role of volunteering activities in sport. As
an analysis of the future directions of EU sport law, this book provides an
in-depth assessment of the impact of current policy changes. At a time when a
new European treaty is being drafted, and when new questions on sport are being
referred To The European Court of Justice, these cogent analyses of European
law applicable to professional sport will be of great value to professionals
concerned with sport in any of its guises.
