WRITTEN QUESTION E-1136/01 by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Football Transfer Fee.
Date: 2001-04-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law, free movement of workers, professional sport, sports body

C 318 E/212

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

(2001/C 318 E/230)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1136/01

by Christopher Heaton-Harris (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: Football Transfer Fee

In view of the changes that have recently been made to the football transfer fee system, could the
Commission indicate whether it considers that other sports(cid:146) transfer systems across Europe comply fully
with the European Treaties?

Has the Commission already investigated any other transfer fee systems, or does it intend to do so in the
future?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 2001)

The Commission assessed the compatibility of the (cid:145)FØdØration internationale de Football Associations(cid:146)
(FIFA) transfer rules with Article 81 (ex Article 85) of the EC Treaty because it has received complaints
about some provisions of such rules.

As regards Article 81 of the EC Treaty, each international transfer system must be assessed in its legal and
economic context taking account of the particularities of each sport.

The Commission has not received any complaint challenging the compatibility of other sport(cid:146)s transfer
systems with Community law.

The Commission has therefore, at present, no intention to launch enquiries in this regard.

(2001/C 318 E/231)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1138/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 April 2001)

Subject: Preservation of North Sea cod stocks

Is it true that while the Commission has closed off 40 000 square miles of fishing grounds in the North
Sea to cod and haddock fishermen in an effort to preserve the ever-dwindling stocks of these fish in
Northern European waters, it has permitted the mainly Danish industrial fishing fleet to catch hundreds of
thousands of tonnes of small fish for agricultural fishmeal in the same area, making a mockery of its
conservation policy, not only because the cod and the haddock can be easily scooped up by 16 mm mesh
nets but because the small fish are a vital part of the marine food chain on which the larger fish are
ultimately dependent?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(29 May 2001)

Within the recently-implemented emergency measures to protect
the cod stock in the North Sea,
provisions are included to permit fishing for sandeels from 1 March and south of 59(cid:176) N. These conditions
allow continuation of a well-established fishery which previous investigations have shown to generate little
by-catch of cod or other bottom-living species. To obtain reassurance that this remains the case, the
Regulation insists that, on at least 50 occasions for each concerned Member State, vessels operating under
the defined conditions carry on board observers to sample the percentage of each species caught.

There have been many assertions that such fishing deprives species such as cod, haddock, whiting etc. of
their food. However, there is little if any evidence that this is in fact the case.