Brussels, 11/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - Ms Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Culture and Sport, considers the declaration on the specific nature of sport approved in Nice by the European Council is a "clear political signal" that the national and Community policies should take greater account of the social and cultural dimension of sport. The Commission, for its part, takes and will continue to take this into account when it examines the issues that come under Community law. Ms Reding noted: "In order to answer the invitation by the European Council, the Commission will use every means possible to make sport a citizen policy par excellence. I trust that the Member States and the sports associations will do the same".
Regarding the specific aspect of the role of sports federations, Ms Reding considers it warranted that the European Council, which takes into account the "cultural diversity" existing between Member Sates, should not wish to attribute an exclusive, but more simply a "key role" to these federations. The Commission, in agreement with the Heads of Government, do not want to and cannot impose a determined model of organisation. It encourages the federations to "listen to the requests of citizens (sports amateurs that would like a more diversified offer) but also to the professional sports world (the management of competitions becomes a concern, given the enormous investment entailed). Ms Reding also welcomes the appeal made to the federations by the Summit to ensure broad participational democracy of the various actors.
For certain ministers of sport, Nice Declaration is only a first step
The declaration relating to the distinctive nature of sport was drawn up by the Council and backed by the Summit; it is now in the "conclusions" of the Summit of Nice (see our special edition of 10 December, Annex IV, pp.17/18). This backing represents the end of a lengthy period of reflection that began when the Court of Justice and European Commission had applied the economic and social rules of the Treaty of Rome to sport without taking account of its distinctive nature. The Declaration of Nice does not introduce an "exemption for sport" in the Treaty; the fundamental values remain valid, but the institutions will have to take account of the "social, education and cultural role of sport, so as to respect and promote the necessary ethic and solidarity for the preservation of its social role".
Certain Member States are said to have wanted to go further, in the sense of providing for a protocol which, by amending the Treaty, would have provided the legal basis for the "exemption for sport", but it was impossible to reach unanimity on the subject. Sports ministers of certain Member States (like France and Italy) consequently consider the current Declaration to be but a first step, that has to be followed by more operational provisions. The declaration establishes the distinctive nature of sport, protection of the young, solidarity. In particular, the Declaration:
We see it, in the most controversial issues this text represents a compromise. Thus it is the case of the sporting Federation (the initial project asserted that the federations are a form of monopoly in the organisation of sporting events, the final text talks of "key role") and with regard to transfers in football (the Summit supports the efforts underway to define the rules, without giving guidelines).
In the meantime, two other important elements concerning sport are developing positively: the discussions between the Commission services and the organisations representing football concerning transfers; the EU's participation as such in the International anti-doping agency. EUROPE will soon return to this in detail