WRITTEN QUESTION E-2897/02

by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission

(14 October 2002)

Subject: Agreement of international rules concerning top-class sport

The world of European football is in crisis. The Italian competition has been postponed because of serious financial problems and disputes between clubs and television stations concerning broadcasting rights. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has departed

to Real Madrid for the astronomical sum of EUR 50 million. Many European clubs cannot compete in this rat race or are incurring huge debts. When expenditure has to be cut, it is training that suffers, especially injections of revenue into regional clubs for the purpose of broad sports training.

The Treaty recognises sport as having a social function. If football is a matter of public concern and not merely a commodity to be exploited for profit, clubs' managements should show this in everything they say and also encourage the same attitude among their supporters. This social function is in serious danger, as clubs trump one another Europe-wide with unbelievable TV contracts and ridiculously large transfer fees. As a result, the interests of football spectators and supporters take a back seat and the social objective is rendered inoperative.

Is it not high time that the Commission convened a meeting of clubs, players' associations, sports authorities and national and international umbrella bodies from all over Europe to discuss a number of minimum rules?

Will the Commission take this initiative and agree the following rules:

1. The transfer fees and total wage bill for players paid by a professional football organisation should be regulated by means of a European salary cap.

2. No sport should be broadcast in an encoded format.

3. Part of each transfer fee should be passed on to regional clubs for the purpose of broad sports training.

4. There should not be any slave trade in young players from Latin America or Africa, for example; this should be enforced by means of direct and active monitoring by UEFA.

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(27 November 2002)

The Honourable Member would like the Commission to take a variety of steps to bring about the introduction of minimum rules in the world of top-level competitive sport with a view to ensuring greater solidarity and thus preserving the social dimension of sport.

The Commission would point out that it can take action only in areas which fall within its remit. It has been very active with respect to cases where rules relating to sport have run counter to Community law, particularly as regards competition. The rules on the transfer of players, for example, have been thoroughly revised in light of complaints received by the Commission and the resulting investigations. It has since been decided that some of the profits generated from transfers should be returned to the training clubs in a trickle-down arrangement.

The Commission nevertheless has an obligation to act as guardian of the EC Treaty and must not encroach on responsibilities which are not its own. It is particularly concerned about respecting the autonomy of the sports movement and the prerogatives of the Member States. As this matter does not concern any rules of Community law, the Commission is not entitled to take action to regulate players' transfer fees or salaries, ban decoders or place sports federations under an obligation to redistribute funds among regional clubs.

As regards relations between sport and television (particularly the broadcasting of sports events on pay-TV channels), it should be borne in mind, however, that the Television without frontiers Directive(1) authorises the Member States to take measures to protect public access to events of major importance for society in such a way that a substantial proportion of the public is not deprived of the possibility of following these events via live or deferred coverage on free television. This provision is set out in Article 3a of Directive 89/552/EEC, which was added when the Directive was amended in 1997(2). It is designed to enable Member States to take measures whose mutual recognition within the Community is guaranteed by the Directive to ensure the widest possible access to television broadcasting of national and non-national events, such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup.

The Commission would also point out that, in the Helsinki Report on Sport(3), it showed its commitment to a vision of sport which respects the principle of solidarity, the ethics of sport, the social role of sport and the protection of young sportsmen and women. The question of protecting young sportsmen and women was also addressed in the Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport and its social function in Europe, of which account should be taken in implementing common policies, which was adopted at the European Council in Nice(4). The Declaration deals with the way in which the solidarity principle can be guaranteed and with the need for sports organisations and the Member States to take appropriate steps to put a stop to commercial transactions targeting minors in sport from non-Community countries.

The concerns expressed by the Honourable Member have been echoed by some Member States and sports organisations, which have occasionally launched initiatives to compensate for certain imbalances. The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), for example, has announced its intention to adopt a number of measures to ensure greater solidarity among the clubs taking part in European competitions.

The Commission can only encourage such initiatives to be adopted, while ensuring that they are compatible with Community law. In this context, the Commission takes account of the social and educational dimension of sport, as advocated in the Nice Declaration.

(1) Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by Law, Regulation or Administrative Action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities, OJ L 298, 17.10.1989.

(2) Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 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, OJ L 202, 30.7.1997.

(3) Report from the Commission to the European Council with a view to safeguarding current sports structures and maintaining the social function of sport within the Community framework The Helsinki Report on Sport COM(1999) 644 final.

(4) European Council in Nice 7, 8 and 9 December 2000 Annex IV to the conclusions of the Presidency: Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport and its social function in Europe, of which account should be taken in implementing common policies.