A4-0197/97

Resolution on the role of the European Union in the field of sport

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Willockx and Mr De Coene on setting up a European youth sport fund (B4-0467/96),

- having regard to its previous resolutions on the relationship between the European Community and sport and in particular its resolution of 6 May 1994 on the European Community and sport ((OJ C 205, 25.7.1994, p. 486.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 13 March 1996 embodying (i) its opinion on the convening of the Intergovernmental Conference, and (ii) an evaluation of the work of the Reflection Group and a definition of the political priorities of the European Parliament with a view to the Intergovernmental Conference ((OJ C 96, 1.4.1996, p. 77.)) and in particular to paragraph 4.18 thereof,

- having regard to its resolution of 19 September 1996 on the role of public service television in a multi-media society ((OJ C 320, 28.10.1996, p. 180.)),

- having regard to its decision of 10 June 1997 on the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 1.)),

- having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of 15 December 1995 in Case C-415/93 ('the Bosman case') ((Reports of Cases 1995, pp. I-4921.)), and in particular grounds 105 to 110 thereof,

- having regard to the debates at the Sixth European Sports Forum organized by the Commission on 16 and 17 December 1996 in Brussels,

- having regard to the resolution of the European sports movement of 17 December 1996 on the inclusion of sport in the EU Treaty and to the draft article annexed thereto,

- having regard to the public hearings organized by the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media on 20 March 1996 on the implications of the Bosman ruling and on 19 March 1997 on Sport, Youth and the Media: should the EU play too?,

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media and the opinion of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0197/97),

A. whereas more than 100 million European citizens participate in sporting activities; whereas such activities are organized by some tens of thousands of sports groups which are themselves members of a plethora of associations and federations; whereas the sports movement is one of the most significant movements involving European Union citizens; and whereas sport, therefore, besides being an economic phenomenon, constitutes a basic cultural and social phenomenon,

B. whereas access to sport and the practice of sport, like access to culture, promote personal development and a well-balanced personality,

C. whereas more people enjoy sport than participate in sporting activities, and whereas all citizens are entitled to information about major sporting events, as confirmed by the European Parliament and Council Directive on television without frontiers,

D. whereas sport is also an important sector of the economy which generates an estimated 1.5% of the European Union's GDP, and whereas it therefore represents a not inconsiderable source of employment in the services sector,

E. whereas education for sport and sports training for young people, in particular, are of fundamental importance for health - especially for combating smoking and alcohol and drug abuse and for preventing cancer and cardio-vascular problems - for physical and mental well-being and for social integration; whereas that aspect of social integration is crucial for the most vulnerable social groups,

F. whereas there is a tendency for the time devoted to sport and education for sport in schools to be reduced to the bare minimum, and whereas it is essential for that trend to be reversed; whereas sports clubs act as an addition to, a link with and frequently a substitute for school, and whereas it is crucial to establish more structured relationships between sports clubs and schools,

G. whereas, in general terms, and for certain socio-cultural reasons, women do not have adequate access to sporting activities, and whereas specific schemes to promote women's sport - especially among young women - are required,

H. emphasizing that, while sport can foster positive values such as determination, courage, tolerance, loyalty, friendship and team spirit, it may, in certain cases, and without being the root cause, act as a catalyst for negative values such as intolerance, chauvinism, racism and violence as well as cheating - both of oneself and one's opponents - by resorting to drugs; whereas the positive values must be encouraged and the negative values combated with the utmost vigour,

I. whereas, although the European Union has taken an interest in professional sport as an economic activity, it has, to date, only taken account in a very marginal fashion of the cultural, educational and social dimension of sport, and whereas such neglect stems basically from the fact that there is no explicit reference to sport in the Treaty,

J. whereas the specific nature of sport and the autonomy of the sports movement and of the organizations which give it a structure must be acknowledged where the sporting activity concerned is not primarily a form of economic activity; whereas the economic activity generated by professional sport may not, however, be exempt from the provisions of Community law,

K. whereas it is vital for the current Intergovernmental Conference to include a reference to sport in Article 128 of the Treaty, without prejudice to the inclusion in the Treaty of an article devoted to sport or the annexing thereto of a protocol on that subject,

L. whereas, as they are worded at present, and while they could usefully be interpreted in that sense, Articles 126 and 127 of the Treaty concerning education, vocational training and youth must already be deemed to apply to sport,

M. whereas, in its ruling in Case C-415/93 ('the Bosman case'), the Court of Justice of the European Communities prohibited the practice of requiring the payment of a transfer fee if professional sportsmen change clubs at the end of their contracts; whereas, in its grounds for the judgment, the Court admitted that 'it must be accepted that the prospect of receiving transfer, development or training fees is indeed likely to encourage football clubs to seek new talent and train young players' (Ground 108) but took the view that 'the same aims can be achieved at least as efficiently by other means which do not impede freedom of movement for workers' (Ground 110),

N. whereas, therefore, as the Court of Justice itself suggested, efficient solidarity and redistribution mechanisms must be guaranteed and developed to ensure that young players are trained and the continued existence of amateur clubs is not jeopardized, and whereas this must be done in such a way that, in practice, players from disadvantaged backgrounds are not excluded,

O. whereas, in sports where fees are paid, some redistribution of television broadcasting rights may help to provide funds for such mechanisms, and whereas any system for negotiating such rights must facilitate their implementation,

P. whereas, moreover, solutions must be found which comply with Community law and which, in practice, do not dissuade big, medium-sized and small professional and amateur clubs from making significant efforts to train young players and thereby fulfil their educational and social role,

Q. whereas the line separating professional from amateur sport must be discussed since, in practice, it frequently varies from one Member State to another and from one sport to another; whereas, logically, a sportsman who receives in return for his services payment which is more than simple travel expenses but less than the lowest wages paid for ordinary work should not be regarded as a professional sportsman,

R. whereas the maintenance of a balance between clubs, or, in the words of the Court of Justice, the preservation of a certain degree of equality and uncertainty as to results, is essential if fair and attractive competitions are to be organized; whereas such a balance and the very nature of European competitions may be adversely affected by distortions of competition connected with existing disparities as regards subsidies and obligations to which the clubs are subject, with particular regard to their obligation to balance their books and to their social security and tax burdens,

S. whereas the financial situation referred to above may also be altered if clubs are taken over by undertakings which have only a commercial relationship with sport and which naturally rate commercial considerations higher than sporting objectives,

T. recalling that Article B3-305 in the Community budget was created by Parliament with a view to encouraging some specific intiatives, in particular the Eurathlon programme and sport for the disabled,

U. whereas the Community budget for 1997 has an article (B3-305) ((OJ L 44, 14.2.1997.)) devoted to a pilot programme entitled 'Sport in Europe' with an appropriation of ECU 3 million in commitment appropriations; whereas that article is included in the chapter entitled 'Information and Communication', which is indicative of the fact that, to date, sport has not been considered by the Community on own merits but as a means of implementing other policies;whereas that article basically finances the Eurathlon programme and provides ECU 1 million for sport for the disabled; whereas, despite its merits, this vulnerable budget article, against which the Commission usually makes no more than a token entry in its preliminary draft budget, cannot cover, either in terms of its structure or its endowment, the measures expected in this field of a European Union which claims to put 'Citizens First',

V. emphasizing that, in the Remarks against this budget article, the budgetary authority asks the Commission not only to submit to it a report on the impact of this measure but also to accompany it by a study on the formulation of a full-scale Community action programme in the field of sport, geared to its social and educational dimension and integrational function,

W. recalling that some of the appropriations from Article B3-305 must be used to assist the training of young people in all branches of sport,

X. taking the view, on the basis of the foregoing considerations, that it is a matter of urgency for the Commission to set up a task force with a remit to review all the aspects of sport which are of interest to the European Union and its policies - whether cultural, social or educational, pertaining to health or economic - and to draw up, after consulting the various participants in the sports movement, a Green Paper with a view to the elaboration of a proper full- scale action plan in the field of sport,

Y. whereas, pending the implementation of an action plan of that nature, account must be taken of sport forthwith through a variety of Community programmes which, to date, have largely or entirely ignored it, in particular the programmes covered by the regional and social policies, those concerning education, training and youth exchanges - SOCRATES, LEONARDO and Youth for Europe - the action programme concerning equal opportunities for men and women, action in the field of health, measures to combat racism, and the research policy (links between sport and health, campaign against doping, etc.),

1. Takes the view that, in the Treaty on which it is based and through its actions, the European Union must acknowledge the basic cultural, economic and social phenomenon that sport represents;

2. Calls on the current Intergovernmental Conference, to that end, to include at all events an explicit reference to sport in Article 128 of the Treaty;

3. Emphasizes that the European Union must recognize the specific nature of sport and the autonomy of the sports movement, it being understood that the economic activity generated by professional sport cannot be exempt from the provisions of Community law;

4. Urges each Member State to use the opportunity provided for by the new Article 3a of the 'Television without frontiers' Directive by taking steps to ensure that TV broadcasters under its jurisdiction do not broadcast on an exclusive basis events, in this instance sporting events, which are regarded by that Member State as being of major importance to the general public in such a way as to deprive a substantial proportion of the public in that Member State of the opportunity of watching those events on free television and to draw up a list of designated events, national or otherwise, in due course, in accordance with a transparent procedure, which involves the sports associations concerned;

5. Urges the Commission to set up forthwith a Task Force on Sport and to draw up, after consulting the entire sports movement, a Green Paper with a view to the elaboration of a comprehensive action plan of the European Union in the field of sport;

6. Calls in particular on the Commission, as part of the work of that Task Force:

(a) to take account of sport across the entire spectrum of its activities, especially in the regional, social, education, youth training and health fields, and, as a result, to reshape its pilot programme in the field of sport,

(b) since it has failed to refer to sport in its White Paper on Education and Training, to rectify that omission, on the basis of Article 126 of the Treaty, in the activities to be carried out on the basis of that White Paper, to encourage the Member States to reverse the trend to reduce the time devoted to sport in schools and to encourage the establishment of closer links between schools and sports clubs,

(c) to contribute, by means of appropriate activities in the field of sport, to social integration and to the campaign against racism,

(d) to implement an awareness, promotion and profile-raising campaign geared to women's amateur and professional sport,

(e) to give active support, with the associations involved, to the introduction of efficient redistribution and solidarity mechanisms so that the training of young players and the continued existence of amateur clubs may be financed by means compatible with Community law,

(f) to examine whether the various schemes for state aid to professional clubs applied in the Member States and the current disparities relating to social security and tax burdens have an effect on the fairness of European competitions and whether the transparency of the financial situation of the various professional clubs in the Community should be guaranteed;

(g) to make the necessary proposals to regulate the permitted transfer from one club to another within one and the same competition, without infringing the freedom of players to change clubs, in order to counter distortion of competition;

(h) to conclude an agreement with national and international sports federations concerning the observance of relevant Community legislation and in particular, with reference to major sporting events (championships, Olympic Games, etc.), Council Directive 85/337/EEC (and subsequent amendments) on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment ((OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.));

7. Calls for the convening of a Council of Ministers for Sport;

8. Instructs its appropriate committee to establish structured and permanent relations with the European sports movement;

9. Calls for the organization of a European Year of Sport;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Committee of the Regions, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the European Olympic Committee and the European non- governmental sports organizations which are members of ENGSO.