Communication from the Commission to the Council concerning the Commission's participation in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its funding
Date: 2002-05-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: international organisation, performance drugs, the EU's international role

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 06.05.2002
COM(2002) 220 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

Concerning the Commission’s participation in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
and its funding

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

Concerning the Commission’s participation in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
and its funding

1.

INTRODUCTION

In the conclusions of the Vienna European Council of 11-12 December 1998, the
European Council underlined “its concern at the extent and seriousness of doping in
sport which undermines the sporting ethic and endangers public health.” This
followed in the wake of the doping scandals which had shaken public opinion in
1998, particularly during the Tour de France.

The European Council emphasised the need for mobilisation at European level and
invited the Member States to examine jointly with the Commission and international
sports bodies “possible measures to intensify the fight against this danger”.

One of the first responses to this invitation was the active participation of the
Member States and the European Commission in the World Anti-Doping Conference
organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in February 1999 in
Lausanne. The most significant outcome of this conference was the creation of the
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The Member States and the European
Commission also played an active role in the creation of this Agency.

transitional period,

It was decided in Lausanne that to guarantee the independence and transparency of
this new Agency the principle of partnership between the Olympic movement and
the public authorities would be applied, particularly as regards the running and the
funding of the WADA. The Member States and the Commission negotiated a two-
year
to end on 1 January 2002, during which the public
authorities were under no obligation to contribute to the funding of the Agency and
the body would be wholly financed by the IOC. The Member States and the
the new Agency's annual budget be
Commission also asked and obtained that
adopted by unanimity of the members of the Foundation Board. Subject to these two
conditions, the IOC lodged the statutes of the WADA on 10 November 1999.

Considering that arrangements should be made for its Member States' and the
European Community's roles in the WADA,
the Council on 4 December 2000
adopted conclusions1 on combating doping, in which in particular it:

– established that the participation of the Community and of its Member States in
the WADA’s Foundation Board would be ensured by the President-in-Office of
the Council and by a member of the Commission and

1

OJ C 356 of 12.12.2000, p. 1

2

– noted that any Community expenditure on WADA activities would be decided on
the basis of the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline2; any
significant Community expenditure will
following a
proposal from the Commission, of a measure with an appropriate legal basis.

require the adoption,

The purpose of this communication is to inform the Council how the Commission
has implemented these conclusions, particularly with regard to representation and
funding, and to examine the future prospects for relations between the Community
and the Agency.

2.

COMMISSION ACTION

Following the adoption on these conclusions, the Commission embarked upon two
complementary courses of action:

– firstly, it appointed Mrs Viviane REDING as the Member of the Commission to

represent the Commission on the WADA’s Foundation Board;

– secondly, it began preparatory work on a proposal for a decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council on the funding of the Agency’s operating budget.

3.

FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS

As pointed out in §1, the initial statutes of the WADA stipulated unanimity of the
Foundation Board for the adoption of the budget. Be that as it may, by a decision
adopted at the Foundation Board’s first meeting on 13 January 2000, an amendment
to the statutes of the WADA replaced the rule of unanimity for adoption of the
budget by that of adoption by two-thirds majority. The Commission, representing the
Community, was powerless to oppose this change of statutes insofar as it had only
observer status within the WADA.

In the wake of this change, the Commission informed the WADA that in order to
safeguard the prerogatives of the budgetary authority two essential conditions had to
be met before a proposal on Community funding of the WADA could be submitted.
Specifically these were:

– the establishment of clear five-year budget forecasts,

– and the amendment of the WADA’s statutes in order to avoid the Community

having binding budgetary decisions imposed upon it without its consent.

2

OJ C 172 of 18.06.1999, p. 1

3

4.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE WADA

The Commission has repeatedly reminded the WADA of these two conditions which
are necessary to safeguard the prerogatives of the budgetary authority. Upon taking
up her role within the WADA’s Foundation Board on 21 August 2001, Mrs Reding
informed the Chairman of the Agency, Mr Pound, of the need to consider these
requirements,
the Commission’s
submitting a proposal for Community funding of the WADA.

respect of which was the precondition for

This was discussed at
the WADA Foundation Board meeting in Lausanne on
3 December 2001. It emerged, as moreover was observed by the WADA Chairman3
that the Community budget rules and those of the Agency could not be reconciled.

The situation stood as follows:

– the WADA would not amend its statutes to allow budget decisions to be taken by
unanimity (which meant that budgetary constraints might be imposed on the
Community against its will and without the prior agreement of the budgetary
authority),

– the Chairman of the Agency could not go beyond an verbal promise on the budget
ceilings not to be exceeded for the five years ahead. Yet the Foundation Board can
amend them annually by a two-thirds majority vote.

5.

CONCLUSION

Given the circumstances the Commission representative would not have been in a
position to safeguard the budgetary prerogatives of the Community within the
WADA. This situation prompted Mrs REDING to abstain from the vote on the
Agency’s budget for 2002 and to announce that no proposal could be submitted for a
decision on the funding of the Agency, and she informed the Commission
accordingly on 5 December 20014.

On the subject of representation, it should be pointed out that Article 6 of the statutes
of the Agency subordinates participation in the WADA Foundation Board to the
payment of a contribution to the budget. As it
is not possible to make such a
payment, the Commission, representing the Community, therefore decided to:

– annul

the appointment of Mrs REDING as the member of the Commission

representing the Community in the WADA Foundation Board and

– inform the Council of the European Union of the action taken and the decisions

adopted.

3

4

The Chairman of the Agency, Mr POUND, on 11 December 2001 wrote a letter to Mrs REDING in
which he concluded that “It would appear that, with the best will in the world, the Community model
simply does not fit in at the WADA”.
(PV (2001)1547) of 5 December 2001, (SEC (2001) 1976).

4