Brussels, 29/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - EUROPE has managed to procure the draft document pending presentation of the White Paper on Sport which has been deferred by one week to allow President José Manuel Barroso to take part in the European Commission's debate. The Commission will present the White Paper to the various stakeholders in the sports world during a conference in autumn 2007, and to EU sport ministers by end 2007. In this document, the Commission places emphasis on the specific nature of the European model for sport, not only from the point of view of its social dimension but also from the economic and organisational points of view. The White Paper contains a number of actions to be implemented or supported by the Commission. Together, such initiatives made up the “Pierre de Coubertin Action Plan” to guide the Commission in its sport-related activities in coming years.
Social role of sport
Sport is the medium for values such as “team spirit”, “solidarity”, “tolerance” and “fair play”. Given the number of people who take part in some form of sport, it has enormous potential for bringing people together, and for integration. The White Paper advocates broader use of Community financial instruments to support: 1) Education and training (lifelong learning programme, European qualification framework, etc.) above all to promote the professional insertion of young people and former sportsmen and sportswomen. 2) Integration of immigrant populations (European programmes such as PROGRESS, Lifelong Learning, Youth in Action and Europe for Citizens, and the regional funds) and of persons with disabilities (Action Plan on the European Union Disability Strategy). 3) Voluntary work (Europe for Citizens and Youth in Action programmes). In the fight against racism and xenophobia, the Commission will contribute to promote dialogue and exchange of best practices in existing cooperation frameworks such as the Football against Racism in Europe network (FARE).
The White Paper stresses the very important role played by sport in enhancing public health. Lack of physical activity reinforces the occurrence of overweight, obesity and a number of chronic conditions such as cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes. On the basis of guidelines drawn up with member states by end 2008, the Commission aims at more collaboration between the worlds of health, sport and education through the establishment of a European network on “health-enhancing physical activity” and the use of Community financial instruments (7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, the Public Health Programme 2007-2013, the Youth and Citizenship programmes and the Lifelong Learning Programme). Doping is another challenge for which the Commission seeks to finds an answer. It calls on the various stakeholders to strengthen regulatory positions and cooperation to ensure that young sportsmen and women are better protected against such practice. It also calls for trade in illicit doping substances to be treated in the same way as trade in illicit drugs throughout the EU.
Sport will be a tool for the European Commission's development policy. Areas such as player transfers, the exploitation of young players, doping, money laundering and security during major sports events will be tackled in relations with third countries. The Commission also calls for visa issuance procedures to be speeded up for top sportspersons from outside the Community.
The economic dimension of sport
As there are no reliable statistics for measuring the economic impact of sport, the European Commission plans to develop a European statistical method in collaboration with member states. It will also launch a study on the direct (growth, employment) and indirect (education, regional development, etc.) contributions made by sport to the Lisbon Agenda.
The Commission acknowledges the fact that public funds have been used to assist sports organisations that do not have substantial earnings. Nonetheless, given the widespread practice of using income from gambling, the White Paper calls on member states to find other sources of funding. The possibility of applying reduced VAT rates for the use of sports infrastructures or for participation in sports events is maintained.
Organisation of the sports sector
Given the specific social and economic nature of sport, the White Paper agrees there should be a European model for sport: - preponderance of amateur sport, pyramidal organisation into federations whose base is represented by sports clubs; solidarity between amateur and professional sport, etc. On this last point, the Commission does not give its view on the nature of the system to be adopted (whether individual or collective) for the resale of commercial broadcasting rights.
On the question of governance, democracy and representation of interests, the European Commission allows self-regulation by the member states and sports' governing bodies. The White Paper points out that as an economic activity, sport is subject to the rules governing the Single Market, particularly those banning discrimination on the basis of nationality. Federations have room for manoeuvre when drawing up their regulation and the measures they have taken are deemed compatible with the Treaties as long as they are proportionate to the objectives being pursued. Since it recent ruling in the Meca-Medina case, the European Court of Justice has distanced itself from 'pure sport rules' when judging the compatibility of procedures on a case by case basis with the Treaties.
The White Paper calls for greater efforts to combat corruption, money-laundering and other financial crimes. In order to increase transparency of funding flows, the Commission is considering setting up an information and verification system solely for control purposes. The Commission recognises the utility of licence systems for professional clubs to ensure basic financial transparency rules are respected. The Commission will carry out an impact assessment to provide a clear overview of the activities of players' agents in the EU and an evolution of whether legislation at EU level is necessary. The Commission will continue to combat the trafficking of young players through the Directive on the Protection of Young People at Work. (gc)