Brussels, 08/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - During the 1 December plenary in Brussels, MEPs Ivo Belet (EPP-ED, Belgium), Doris Pack (EPP-ED, Germany), Christa Prets (PES, Austria) and Hannu Takkula (ALDE, Finland) questioned the European Commission about sport in the Union. In 1999, the Commission announced measures in its Helsinki Report to take for ensuring balanced development of sport and its social function. Parliament informed the Commission, in its resolution of 7 September 2000 that it had called for support for self-managed sports bodies, in order to promote training and development of players in both small local clubs and big clubs that are recognised internationally. MEPs also want the Commission to look at the measures taken or planned to strengthen the social and integrating role of football and are requesting Commission proposal for implementing a new Article in the Constitution on sport as soon as the Constitution is ratified. Commissioner Jan Figel in a brief reply (due to lack of time he had to reply in writing to most of the detailed questions), promised after ratification of the Constitution that "we will work on a European sports policy". Until then, he noted, they had little time to prepare, "we intend to begin open consultations…largely in the form of workshops, but also through the internet, to ensure that we have the biggest possible hearing". The Slovakian Commissioner said that they would be evaluating the experiences of 2004, European Year of Education through Sport.
During the debate, questions focused on the possibility of the UEFA imposing a quota on clubs of local players and to invest in the training of young players with the support of national subsidies. In this context, Christa Prets denounced measures that would lead to a reduction in the social integration role of sport: the result of a the big clubs' transfer system. She criticised the fact that "links between the clubs and the community, developed over many years, are becoming weaker". French Green, Jean-Luc Bennahmias appealed for stricter rules for the purchase of young players. He was disappointed to learn that players between the ages of 6-7 had been bought by Real Madrid and Manchester United. He insisted that they should not agree to the transfer of players before the age of 16. He also said that they cannot ignore xenophobic and racist acts in stadiums in Italy, France, Spain or the Netherlands and that this was a question that although in his opinion involved that European Council was of concern to Commission too. British Labour Party Member Gary Titley, co-president welcomed in this context, the "Give Racism a Red Card" campaign" launched in his country. Brian Crowley, co-president of the Union for a Europe of Nations admitted that, "It really irritates me when I hear people complain that clubs like Real Madrid or Manchester United are using their financial power and muscle to the detriment of other clubs. In fact, …clubs that have spent less money on players than Manchester United or Real Madrid are now ahead of them in their national leagues and doing better than them…What is really at the heart of the whole argument is what we put in place to ensure that local talent is given the best opportunity to prosper and grow within its own area… More important than that…is to ensure that those who have talent, natural ability and skill are not restricted and can utilise that ability and skill wherever it's is most beneficial to them". Thomas Mann MEP (CDU), member of the EP Friends of Football working group, on the contrary, regretted that if rich clubs bought "youngsters" who were gifted, the small clubs would be very disappointed. He said that clubs stuffed with stars often left this talent on the benches if they did not achieve instant sporting success and therefore new generations of good players were wasted. British Conservative Christopher Beazley like other MEPs said that the nature of football had changed, "television coverage of football and increased funding through advertising revenue". Balearic Islands MEP Bernat Joan I Mari' (Greens/EFA) posed the problem of "nations without a state" for whom identification through sport was becoming very difficult. In the United Kingdom, he remarked that the problem had been solved by the existence of the national Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish clubs whereas in Catalonia they had several national teams that cannot play in international competitions.