REPORT on the future of professional football in Europe

13.2.2007 - (2006/2130(INI))

Committee on Culture and Education
Rapporteur: Ivo Belet

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MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the future of professional football in Europe

(2006/2130(INI))

The European Parliament,

–    having regard to the Helsinki Report and to the Nice Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport and its social function in Europe,

- having regard to Articles 16 and III-182 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (the Constitutional Treaty),having regard to the UK Presidency initiative on European football, which resulted in the "Independent European Sport Review 2006",

- having regard to the case-law developed by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (the Court of Justice), the Court of First Instance and the Commission's decisions in sports-related matters,

–    having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–    having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the Committee on Legal Affairs (A6‑0036/2007),

A. whereas the Commission has underlined in the Helsinki Report the need for a partnership between football's governing bodies and public authorities for the good governance of the game,

B.   whereas European sport, and football in particular, is an inalienable part of the European identity, European culture and citizenship, and the European Football Model, characterised by open sports competitions within a pyramid structure in which several hundred thousand amateur clubs and millions of volunteers and players form the base for the top professional clubs, is the result of longstanding democratic tradition and grass-roots support in the community as a whole;

C.  whereas football plays an important social and educational role, and is an effective instrument for social inclusion and multicultural dialogue and can be a way of counteracting discrimination, intolerance, racism and violence, and whereas professional football clubs and leagues also play a vital social and cultural role in their local and national communities;

D.  whereas professional football has both an economic and a non-economic dimension,

E.   whereas the social function of football is being jeopardised by the exploitation of young players, by corruption and by the fact that clubs are driven by pure business motives, often as a result of a take-over,

F.   whereas the economic aspects of professional football are subject to Community law, and the case-law recognises the specificity of sport and the social and educational role played by football in Europe,

G.  whereas it is thus the responsibility of the national and European political and sports authorities to ensure that, when Community law is applied to professional football, it does not compromise its social and cultural purposes, by developing an appropriate legal framework,

H. whereas it was decided, in view of the growing importance of sport in the European Union’s various policies (freedom of movement, recognition of qualifications, competition, health and audiovisual policies), to include sport in the Constitutional Treaty as an area of EU competence (under Articles 16 and III-182); and whereas the Constitutional Treaty has not been adopted by all of the Member States and the Nice Declaration on sport in the EU alone is not sufficient to deal with the current problems, which go beyond national dimensions and accordingly call for European solutions,

I..  the greater professionalisation and commercialisation of sport in general and football in particular has made EC law much more relevant in this area, a fact reflected in the growing number of cases pending before the Court of Justice and the Commission,

 -    this has greatly exacerbated the problem of legal uncertainty and the sectors concerned increasingly see an approach based solely on treating cases individually as inadequate, a view also documented in the study commissioned by a number of sports ministers in the EU Member States and recently published under the title Independent European Sport Review 2006,

-     it is not clear, for example, whether the UEFA rule stipulating that teams must contain a minimum number of home-grown players, a provision which is extremely important for youth development, would, if it were reviewed by the Court of Justice, prove to be consistent with Article 12 of the EC Treaty,

J.   whereas the problem of legal uncertainty has thus been exacerbated , and the sector increasingly sees an approach based solely on treating cases individually as inadequate,

K. whereas as a result of this legal uncertainty, it is not clear how much autonomy self-regulating bodies, such as UEFA and national associations, enjoy and to what extent they are bound, when exercising their right to self-regulation and performing their regulatory function, by certain principles of Community law such as free movement, non-discrimination and competition rules,

L.   whereas this legal uncertainty is not only problematic in economic terms, but in particular in terms of the social, cultural and educational function of football, and at the same time reduces the interest of fans and efforts to improve support, and undermines the principle of fair play,

M.  whereas a decision has been taken to include sport in the Constitutional Treaty as a matter of EU competence (Articles 16 and III-182) in order to give the EU powers to develop its European dimension,

N. whereas professional football does not function like a typical sector of the economy and whereas professional football clubs cannot operate under the same market conditions as other economic sectors, because of the interdependence between sports opponents and the competitive balance needed to preserve the uncertainty of results, and whereas its various actors, including supporters, players, clubs, leagues and associations, do not operate as normal consumers or enterprises,

O.  whereas the future of professional football in Europe is threatened by the growing concentration of economic wealth and sports power,

P.   whereas the growing importance of broadcasting revenues as a share of clubs' overall revenue undermines the competitive balance between clubs from different countries, insofar as such revenues are largely determined by the size of national broadcasting markets,

Q. whereas the growing importance of revenues from the sale of broadcasting rights may undermine the competitive balance between clubs from different countries, as such revenues are largely determined by the size of national broadcasting markets, and whereas the practice of the individual selling of broadcasting rights in certain leagues goes against the principle of solidarity and threatens completely to destroy the competitive balance,

R.  whereas for many decades professional football has increasingly been characterised by an international dimension and has equally been affected by different international regulatory and legislative regimes,

S.  whereas diverging national legislation and licensing criteria in Europe cause an unequal playing field, economically and legally, and this situation seriously hampers fair sports competition between teams in European leagues, and hence also between national teams,

T.  whereas the participation of women in sport in general is still far below the level of men, whereas women are still under-represented in the sports decision-making bodies and whereas there are still cases of gender-discrimination in the remuneration of sports professionals,

U.  whereas, despite the fact that the Bosman ruling in 1995 had a positive effect on players’ contracts and players' mobility - though a lot of employment-related and social problems remain to be solved - it also had several negative consequences for the sport, including an increased ability on the part of the richest clubs to sign up the best players, a stronger link between financial power and sporting success, an inflationary spiral in players’ salaries, reduced opportunities for locally-trained players to express their talent at the highest level and reduced solidarity between professional and amateur sport,

V.  whereas many criminal activities (match fixing, corruption, etc.) are the result of the spiral of spending, salary inflation and the subsequent financial crises faced by many clubs;

W. whereas the Commission has confirmed in formal decisions the compatibility of the collective selling of media rights with EC competition law,

General context

1. Stresses its attachment to the European Football Model, with its symbiotic relationship between amateur and professional football;

2. Points out the importance of the inter-linked national pyramid structures of European football, which nurture grassroots talent and competition because national leagues and competitions are also the route to European competitions, and a proper balance needs to be struck between the national foundation of the game and the European level to enable football leagues and associations to co-operate efficiently;

3.  Recognises the need for a joint effort by football governing bodies and political authorities at several levels to counter certain negative developments, such as excessive commercialisation and unfair competition, in order to ensure a positive future for professional football with exciting competitions, a high degree of identification of supporters with their clubs and wide public access to competitions by means of, among others, special ticket prices for young people and families, especially for major international matches;

4. Welcomes the recommendations of the "Independent European Sport Review 2006" and calls on the Member States, the football governing bodies and the Commission in its forthcoming White Paper on Sport to continue the efforts initiated by the UK Presidency to tackle the need for corrective action by considering the principles and main recommendations of that Review;

5. Expresses its desire to avoid the future of professional football in Europe being determined by court decisions and to create greater legal certainty;

6. Agrees with the basic principle that the economic aspects of professional sport do fall within the scope of the EC Treaty, taking into account the specificity of sport as set out in the Nice Declaration; and considers that in this respect the consequential restrictive effects of a sports decision which cause economic hardship are compatible with EU law, provided they are proportionate and inherent in the pursuit of protecting the nature and purpose of the sport;

7. Calls on the Commission to develop guidance on how to apply this principle, and to start a consultation process with the European football authorities with the aim of setting up a formal framework agreement between the EU and the football governing bodies;

8. Takes the view that, although it lays down no specific legislative competence for sport, the EC Treaty contains a wide array of instruments which could be employed as part of an action plan, e.g.:

- European Parliament and Council directives to deal with the issues of licences for players from non-EU countries, the protection of young players and the role of players’ agents;

- group exemptions in connection with various aspects of competition law, e.g. marketing contracts, subsidies;

- Commission directives pursuant to Article 211 of the Treaty on the application of competition law; in that connection, steps should be taken to determine whether sports organisations provide services of general economic interest within the meaning of Article 86 of the Treaty;

- social dialogue machinery, in particular in connection with issues relating to players’ rights;

- recommendations to the Member States with a view to replacing differing national arrangements with, for example, central marketing systems;

- Council framework decisions, e.g. to combat certain forms of crime;

9. Asks the Commission, in partnership with Parliament, the Member States and the European and national football governing bodies and other stakeholders, to include the principles and recommendations contained in this resolution in its forthcoming White Paper, and to establish an action plan for European sport in general and football in particular which sets out the issues for the Commission to deal with and the legal instruments to be used (directives, guidelines, group exemptions, recommendations) in order to create legal certainty and a level playing-field;

10. Asks the Commission to continue a structured dialogue with the football governing bodies and other stakeholders in order to overcome the problem of legal uncertainty;

11. Welcomes the success of and great interest in women’s football in Europe and draws attention to its growing social significance;

Governance

12. Calls on all football governing bodies to better define and coordinate their competences, responsibilities, functions and decision-making procedures in order to increase their democracy, transparency and legitimacy, for the benefit of the entire football sector; invites the Commission to specify the conditions under which legitimate and adequate self-regulation is supported, with due regard to national legislation and financial support for federations and associations which aims at developing and cultivating young footballers and the national team;

13. Calls on UEFA to include among the respective stakeholders consulted in the decision-making process, representative organisations such as the FIFPro, the European Club Forum and the EPFL (European Professional Football Leagues);

14. Believes that improved governance leading to more concerted self-regulation at national and European level will reduce the tendency to have recourse to the Commission and the Court of Justice;

15. Takes the view that, although sports governing bodies might have a legitimate wish to defend their own sports procedures, applying to the civil courts, even when not justified in sports terms, cannot be penalised by disciplinary regulations; and condemns the arbitrary decisions by FIFA in this respect;

16. Urges FIFA to review its statutes, in cooperation with the Commission and the national governing bodies, in order to seek a proper balance between on the one hand the legitimate right of all sport actors to appeal to the civil courts, and on the other hand the normal functioning of competitions;

17. Insists that the principle of proportionality is essential to all football governing bodies when exercising their self-regulatory power; and asks the Commission to ensure that this principle is applied in legal cases concerning sport;

18. Calls on FIFA to increase its internal democracy and the transparency of its structures;

19. Believes that the Charleroi case currently before the Court of Justice could seriously undermine the ability of small and medium-sized national football associations to take part in international competitions and threaten the vital investment in grassroots football made by national associations; in this respect, believes that clubs should release their players for national team duty without entitlement to compensation; encourages UEFA and FIFA, together with the European clubs, to reach an agreement on a system of collective insurance being put into place;

20. Supports the UEFA club licensing system, which aims at ensuring a level playing-field between clubs and contributing to their financial stability, and calls on UEFA to further develop this licensing system in order to guarantee financial transparency and proper management;

21. Recommends the creation of an independent supervisory body with the main purpose of monitoring the financial and commercial activities of European clubs and of enforcing their compliance with the criteria on financial transparency and proper management and that this body should report on its activities by the publication of an annual report;.

22. recommends a vigorous campaign by the national and European political and sports authorities to establish greater transparency and good governance in European professional football;

23. Supports efforts to protect the integrity of the game by ruling out conflicts of interests of major stakeholders in clubs or governing bodies;

24. Calls on the Commission to reflect on the introduction of a European legal status for sports companies to take account of the economic activities of major football clubs whilst preserving their specific sports-related characteristics; such a status would make it possible to establish rules for monitoring the economic and financial activities of such companies;

25.  Asks Member States and football governing bodies to actively promote the social and democratic role of football supporters, for example through the involvement of supporters in the ownership and management of the clubs or through the appointment of a football ombudsman;

26. Considers that professional footballers and their trade-union representatives should be more closely involved in the governance of football through a better social dialogue;

Fight against criminal activities

27.  Supports the efforts of the European and national football governing bodies to introduce greater transparency in the ownership structures of clubs and asks the Council to develop and adopt measures for the fight against the criminal activities that haunt professional football, including money laundering, illegal betting, doping and match fixing, and enforced prostitution on the sidelines of major football events;

28. Emphasises the need to ensure full compliance with transparency and money-laundering legislation by entities involved in the football sector;

29. Calls on Member States to introduce mechanisms fostering cooperation between clubs, the police and supporters' organisations, with a view to combating violence and hooliganism and other forms of delinquent behaviour during football matches;

Social, cultural and educational role of football

30.  Highlights the importance of education through sport and the potential of football to help get socially vulnerable youngsters back on track and asks Member States, national associations, leagues and clubs to exchange best practices in this regard;

31. Calls on the Commission and Member States also to support social inclusion projects by football clubs;

32. Expresses its clear support for the UEFA measures to encourage the education of young players by requiring a minimum of home-grown players in a professional club’s squad and by placing a limit on the size of the squads; believes that these incentive measures are proportionate and calls on professional clubs to strictly implement this rule;

33.  Is convinced that additional arrangements are necessary to ensure that the home-grown players initiative does not lead to child trafficking, with some clubs giving contracts to very young children (below 16 years of age);

34. Insists that immigration law must always be respected in relation to the recruitment of young foreign talent and calls on the Commission to tackle the problem of child trafficking in the context of the Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings[1] and / or in the context of the implementation of Council Directive 94/33/EC on the protection of young people at work[2]; points out that young players must be given the opportunity for a general education and vocational training in parallel with their club and training activity, so that they do not entirely depend on the clubs; calls for action to prevent the social exclusion of young people who are ultimately not selected;

35.  Underlines the important social and educational role of training centres and the vital role which they play in both the well-being of clubs and the future development of football talent, supports financial incentives for clubs with a training centre, provided such incentives are compatible with the Treaty rules on State aid, and asks the Commission to recognise this crucial role when developing guidelines on State aid;

36. Stresses the need for an environment to be created in which young players can develop and be brought up in a spirit of honesty and fair play;

37. Urges the Member States to introduce the gender perspective in all aspects of sports policies, with the aim of further reducing the continuing difference between men and women both in representation on sports bodies and in remuneration, as well as in actual participation in sport, thus equalising the personal and social benefits resulting from sport;

Employment and social issues

38. Regrets the differences in social and fiscal legislation between Member States, which cause imbalances between clubs, and the lack of willingness of Member States to solve this at European level;

39. Emphasises the importance of the mutual recognition of professional qualifications gained in another Member State in allowing the free movement of workers;

40.  Believes that the current economic reality surrounding players' agents requires that football governing bodies at all levels, and in consultation with the Commission, to improve the rules governing players' agents; in this respect calls on the Commission to support UEFA’s efforts to regulate players’ agents, if necessary by presenting a proposal for a directive concerning players' agents which would include: strict standards and examination criteria before anyone could operate as a football players' agent; transparency in agents' transactions; minimum harmonised standards for agents' contracts; an efficient monitoring and disciplinary system by the European governing bodies; the introduction of an "agents' licensing system" and agents' register; and ending "dual representation" and payment of agents by the player;

41. Calls on UEFA and the Commission to intensify their efforts to strengthen the social dialogue at European level on issues such as the duration of contracts, the definition of the transfer window, possibilities for terminating a contract early and compensation for trainer clubs, as it can prevent and overcome tensions between players and employers;

42. Welcomes the move by FIFPro (Fédération Internationale des Footballeurs Professionels), UEFA and the EPFL (European Professional Football Leagues ) to further players' rights by ensuring that players always are given written contracts with certain minimum requirements;

43. Acknowledges the need to implement employment legislation more effectively in all Member States to ensure that professional players are granted the rights they are entitled to and fulfil the obligations they comply with as employees;

44. asks the Commission actively to support initiatives and campaigns to fight child labour in football related industries and examine all political and legal possibilities to ensure that the rights of all workers, including children, are respected;

Fight against racism

45.  Asks the Commission, the Member States and all those involved in professional football to accept , since the legal entitlement to a workplace free of racism also applies to footballers, their responsibility for continuing and intensifying the fight against racism and xenophobia by condemning all forms of racism inside and outside the stadium; asks for stricter sanctions against any kind of racist and xenophobic acts in football; asks UEFA and the national associations and leagues to apply disciplinary rules in a coherent, firm and coordinated manner, without neglecting the financial situation of clubs;

46. Also calls in this connection on the Commission, UEFA and other interested parties to take action on Parliament’s Declaration of 14 March 2006 on tackling racism in football[3]; compliments UEFA and FIFA on the tougher sanctions being incorporated in their statutes and for the measures being taken, and looks forward to further action by all the parties concerned in the football sector;

47. Calls on the Commission, UEFA and other interested parties not to allow other forms of discrimination, such as discrimination on grounds of sex, origin, sexual orientation or otherwise, to go unpunished inside and outside the football stadium;

Competition law and the internal market

48.  Strongly believes that the introduction of a modulated cost-control system could be a way of enhancing financial stability and the competitive balance between teams, for instance when integrated into an updated club licensing system; calls on UEFA, together with the clubs, players' representatives and the Commission, to develop a cost-control system, to be operated on a self-regulatory basis, that would be compatible with the European Football Model and Community law;

49. Considers that football must ensure the interdependence of competitors and the need to guarantee the uncertainty of results of competitions, which could serve as a justification for sports organisations to implement a specific framework on the market for the production and the sale of sport events; however, considers that such specific features do not warrant an automatic exemption from the Community competition rules for any economic activities generated by professional football, owing to the increasing economic weight of such activities;

50.  Asks the Commission to draw up clear guidelines on the application of State aid rules, indicating what kind of public support is acceptable and legitimate in order to fulfil the social, cultural and educational role played by football, such as financial or other support granted by public authorities for the provision or updating of football stadiiums or facilities;

51.  Asks the Commission and the Member States to work closely with the international, European and national football governing bodies to reflect on the consequences of a possible liberalisation of the betting market and on mechanisms to secure the financing of sport in general and football in particular, and to look into measures which would protect the integrity of national and European football competitions;

52. Recognises the importance of trade marks in the sports industry except where they are used to impede the free movement of goods;

53. Notes that there is often a mismatch between the supply of, and demand for, tickets for major football events which is beneficial to sponsors but detrimental to consumers; stresses that the interests of consumers should be fully taken into account when it comes to the distribution of tickets and that non-discriminatory and fair ticket sales should be guaranteed at all levels; acknowledges however that the distribution of tickets may, where appropriate, be restricted to members of supporters clubs, travel clubs or similar schemes, membership of which is available on a non-discriminatory basis;

Selling of television rights and competition law

54. Maintains that collective selling in all competitions is fundamental to protecting the financial solidarity model of European football; welcomes a public debate on and further investigation by the Commission into whether this model should be adopted across Europe for both pan-European and domestic competitions, as suggested by the Independent Sport Review 2006; in this respect, calls on the Commission to provide a detailed evaluation of the economic and sports impact of its relevant media rights decisions and the extent to which they have or have not worked;

55. Stresses that the sale of media rights vested in the European national football leagues should always comply with EC competition law, taking into account the specificity of sport, and be negotiated and completed in a transparent manner; but with that proviso believes that football broadcasts should be accessible to the widest possible range of people including through free-to-air channels;

56. Stresses that the merit of Article 3a of the current “Television without Frontiers Directive” can hardly be overestimated;

57.  Points out that it is vital for professional football that the revenues from television rights be distributed in a fair way that ensures solidarity between the professional and amateur games, and between competing clubs in all competitions; notes that the current distribution of television revenues in the UEFA Champions League to a significant degree reflects the size of the clubs' national television markets; notes that this favours big countries, thereby diminishing the power of clubs from smaller countries;

58.  Therefore invites UEFA together with the Commission to continue to examine mechanisms to create a more competitive balance in this field by increased redistribution;

59. Points out that the televised broadcasting of sports competitions is increasingly taking place on encrypted and pay TV channels, and that such competitions are thus becoming inaccessible to a number of consumers;

Doping

60.  Recommends that the prevention of and fight against doping should constitute an important concern for the Member States; calls for a policy aimed at preventing and combating doping and stresses the need to fight irregularities through checks, research, testing, long-term monitoring by independent doctors and through education and, at the same time, prevention and training; calls on professional clubs to adopt a pledge to combat doping and to monitor compliance through internal checks;

61. Calls on the Commission to set up an independent doping control body equivalent to WADA, exclusively for football with comparable conditions and procedures; considers that operational expenditure, the establishment the seat of this body in a Member State and other details may be decided jointly by the Commission, FIFA and UEFA and the national governments;

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62. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and the parliaments of the Member States, UEFA and FIFA.

• [1]               OJ L 203, 1.8.2002, p. 1.
• [2]               OJ L 216, 20.8.1994, p. 12.
• [3]               Not yet published in OJ.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1. GENERAL CONTEXT

The 2006 World Cup in Germany was a big success. The organisation was perfect. The magnificent results of European national teams of course are based on the high performances of the clubs in the national and European competitions. They set the standard for international football.

In economic terms, between 3-4% of the European Union's annual GDP is generated through sports and sports in general have an average annual growth rate of 4%. This enormous expansion has led to an increase in the value of television rights, sponsorships, merchandising and all other ancillary activities, as well as to the multiplication of international competitions, with a consequent increase in jobs in the sector.

However, football in Europe is facing multiple challenges, that can not be tackled by the football governing bodies alone. Because of the influence of European law on the game, it is important that a constructive dialogue between European institutions and sport governing bodies takes place.

On the initiative of the UK presidency an independent football review has been launched, resulting in an exhaustive report that was presented to Commission president Barroso.

The Commission announced the presentation of a White Paper by mid-2007.

The European Parliament cannot stay aside but should make clear its position.

This exercise should, in a next phase, be broadened and opened up to other professional sports and should evidently also deal with female professional sport.

2. APPLICABILITY OF EUROPEAN LAW

Primary law

The Treaties give the European Union no explicit competence on sport in general, or football in particular. But since sport is not exempted from EU primary law either, it is submitted to EU law. ECJ rulings and EC decisions have clarified how f.i. art.12, 39, 43-49, 81-87 have their impact on sport and professional football.

The Amsterdam and Nice Declaration

Both declarations in 1997 and 2000 underline the societal role of football, but do not alter the fact that the economic aspects of sport are subject to the provisions of the Treaty.

Secondary law

Also in secondary law the specificity of sport is not systematically taken into account. This holds true a.o. for the recognition of diplomas and permits for trainers, players’ agents and not-EU players.

It is symptomatic to see the ECJ and EC are increasingly put in the situation of ultimate recourse by the sporting actors. This case by case approach has reinforced legal uncertainty.

The self-regulatory power of football organisations, such as the national leagues and UEFA, is questioned (see 4: Governance).

Draft constitutional Treaty

Art. III - 282 in the draft constitutional treaty would bring a legal base for sport. This article of the draft constitution as it stands now, however, would not provide for legal certainty.

3. SPECIFICITY

Football performs important social functions regarding education and integration, public health, and cultural and recreational purposes.

Also the essence of the game in itself is a reason for the specificity. The laws of free economic competition cannot be applied as such, because a football club needs viable competitors of a comparable strength for having an exciting competition.

European football model

The European football model is characterised by open sporting competitions with relegation and promotion (the aim is winning the game) and without clear distinction between professional and amateur level. This results in a pyramidal structure where lots of amateur clubs form the basis for the top professional clubs playing on national and European level[1].

The current trend of clubs going to the stock market is one step closer to the US model. It can be questioned whether the two goals (winning the game and maximising the shareholders’ profits) can be combined within the traditional open European model.

4. GOVERNANCE

A. Self regulation and multilevel governance:

The principal challenge today is to maintain the prerogatives of the federations in the construction of the rules of the game and especially in the organization of sporting competitions. In principle, the legitimacy of federations and their decisions is conditioned by their degree of democratic, representative and accountable structures and the degree of transparency of the decision-making procedures.

As far as the European level is concerned, if the self-regulatory role of the representative and democratic football bodies is enhanced on a European level, clubs would no longer be tempted to consider the Commission as an "appeal" or recourse body.

Several other statements on issues linked to governance can be made:

1. Clubs are not only competing on a national level, but also on a European level (as a result of the UEFA club competitions). Due to national differences in the application of club licensing regimes, there is a lack of a level playing field in professional football in Europe.

It can therefore be questioned

- whether it is appropriate to continue with a licensing-system at national level

- whether the national federations can remain the centre of power

- whether more arrangements can be done at the level of UEFA.

2. A very recent example of the self regulatory power of UEFA and FIFA being questioned is the Charleroi case, in which clubs question the FIFA rule that clubs should release their players for matches of the national team without entitlement to compensation. A compromise should be found between FIFA and the clubs.

3. The principle of territorial organisation of football should be recognised

B. Good governance

Financial transparency

An identical financial control should be put in place for all European clubs in order to ensure financial transparency and to prevent financial drifts and inequalities of treatment leading to distortions of competition relating to the economic capacity of the clubs.

Therefore we should consider:

- whether the UEFA licensing system can be extended to all professional leagues in Europe;

- whether a structure controlling the management of the clubs should be put in place in each Member State;

- whether we should call on UEFA to establish an independent body to monitor overall compliance with the club licensing system, including more extensive use of spot-checking.

Other issues:

- club ownership

- converging statutes for clubs

In order to further promote the involvement of supporters, incentives for the supporters direct movement are to be developed and stimulated.

5. THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ROLE

Football is an excellent instrument to get socially vulnerable youngsters back on track.

UEFA has adopted the home grown player rule in order to overcome the growing neglect of youth training which resulted from the Bosman ruling. What is needed now above all is legal certainty concerning this matter.

At the same time, it must be prevented that clubs give contracts to ever younger players (minus 15) which would pervert the objective of the home grown player rule.

In this regard also the important role of training centres has to be underlined. A financial redistribution system or fiscal incentives should provide for a level playing field between clubs with and without training centres.

Fight against racism

The work started by the Parliament with the written declaration on the fight against racism should be continued. The European Commission, the Member States and all professional football actors should play their part by insisting on more strict sanctions against all sort of racist acts in football. UEFA and national leagues should apply disciplinary rules in a coherent, firm and coordinated manner.

6. EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL ISSUES

Bosman - Players situation

The Bosman ruling in 1995 has had long lasting positive effects on how European clubs approach players’ contracts. But a lot of professional players in Europe (ca. 50% according to Fifpro) still do not have an employment contract with their club and a lot of employment and training contracts are legally problematic.

Social and fiscal differences

The disparities between Member States’ social and fiscal legislation are causing imbalances between the various European clubs and can be a reason for players to leave their home country.

Obviously these problems could be overcome by a harmonization/coordination of the legal, social and fiscal statuses applied to the professional players and clubs. This would also create an opportunity to strengthen professional players’ social rights which are not ensured in all Member States (retirement, unemployment, sick leave ...). These issues have to be dealt with in a social dialogue.

Others issues are:

- European players' agents directive

- social dialogue

- recognition of professional qualifications

- the question of quota of players

- the status for international treansfers.

7. COMPETITION LAW AND FOOTBALL

As mentioned under point 3, the laws of free economic competition cannot be applied to football without taking its specificity into account. In order to have an interesting football competition we need a balanced economic competition.

Antitrust laws/ Cost control

The introduction of a (self regulatory) modulated cost control system into professional football could be an instrument to promote greater competitive balance and therefore a level playing field for the teams at a European level.

However, the pros and cons of a cost control system should be further examined.

State aid

On many different levels (local/regional/national) public authorities are involved in the financing of football. Because of different regulations, the clubs are not playing the game with the same tools. A level playing field requires clear state aid rules. The quintessential question is: what kind of public support is acceptable and legitimate in order to fulfil clear societal objectives (f.i. investments in training facilities) and which measures lead to distortion of competition?

8. INTERNAL MARKET ASPECTS OF FOOTBALL

- Restrictions to the cross-border provision of sponsorship services (for "sensitive products" such as alcoholic beverages and gambling services)

- Cross-border restrictions to the offer and advertising of cross-border sports betting services (on which the Commission has recently opened procedures against 7 Member States)

- Restrictions to the reception of sports broadcasts in other Member States because of the territorial sale of broadcasting rights

- Consumer interest : distribution of tickets

9. MEDIA & COMPETITION RULES

Joint selling of media rights is fundamental to protect the financial solidarity model of European football. The Commission has taken three principled decisions on media rights for football matches[2], which allow the joint selling of media rights.

The European Commission is asked to investigate how this model can be adopted across Europe. This has to be preceded by a detailed evaluation of these media rights decisions (impact and effectiveness). The economic impact of new media has to be incorporated.

It is in the interest of the game that the profits of these rights are distributed on a fair and redistributive way. The current distribution of television rights in the UEFA C.L. (for a large part according to the television market shares) favours big countries and should be reviewed.

Free-to-air TV

The merit of the current "Television without Frontiers Directive" can hardly be overestimated. It allows national authorities to specify a limited number of events which must be available for broadcasting free-to-air. This principle has to be maintained in the revised TWF-directive.

Other issues that ask for clarity:

- right holders of the matches (clubs or federations)

- registration by clubs of their broadcasting-rights in their credits even if they are collectively managed

- disturbance of the football calendar by broadcasters choice

- exclusive rights and free access to sporting enclosures for radio and written press

- temporarily blocking the broadcasting of matches in order to support the amateur games and the presence of the supporters in the stadiums.

10. DOPING

The key to success in the fight against doping is the strength of international policy of prevention and repression.

11. LEGAL ACTION: FRAMEWORK, ACTIONPLAN, GUIDELINES, DIRECTIVE

After consultation of all stakeholders, the EP can opt for different instruments (or make a combined choice):

- call for a regulatory framework that recognises the specificity of sports and puts into place harmonised rules that assure a healthy competition and a level playing field. It must be acknowledged, however, that this is difficult without a proper legal base in the Treaties.

- call for an action plan which sets out the issues for the Commission to treat and the legal instruments to use, such as guidelines, directives, recommendations, framework decisions

- call for the establishment of an EU sport agency?

• [1]  In the US, professional and amateur leagues are clearly separated. US clubs in the highest closed leagues are profit maximising rather than winning maximising entities. Promotion and relegation do not exist. In order to have an exciting competition, clubs are open to redistribution measures
• [2]  European Commission's formal decision exempting the joint selling of the media rights of the UEFA Champions League, 23 July 2003; European Commission decision, on 22 March 2006, under EC Treaty competition rules that renders commitments from the FA Premier League concerning the sale of media rights to the Premier League football competition legally binding. The case concerned the agreement between the clubs participating in the English Premier League competition to sell media rights to that competition jointly through the FA Premier League; Directive 89/552/EEC, "Television without Frontiers Directive"

OPINION of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (20.12.2006)

for the Committee on Culture and Education

on the future of professional football in Europe
(2006/2130(INI))

Draftsman: Eoin Ryan

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs calls on the Committee on Culture and Education, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.   Points out that the Commission has taken four principled decisions on media rights for football matches; firstly, the Commission has allowed clubs to sell broadcasting rights jointly; secondly, the Commission has intervened to limit the extent to which all the valuable rights to a given competition can be bought by a single buyer; thirdly, the Commission, by insisting that broadcasting rights should be divided and sold separately to different buyers, has also tried to prevent output restrictions; and fourthly, the Commission has decided that not all the rights should be centralised and that some of them must remain available for clubs for individual marketing in particular as regards new media;

2.   Stresses that commercial contracts incorporating the sale of television and new media rights vested in the European national football leagues should always fully comply with EC anti-trust law and be negotiated and completed in a transparent manner; but subject to this believes that football broadcasts should be accessible to the widest possible range of people including through free-to-air channels;

3.   Points out the importance of the inter-linked national pyramid structures of the European football industry, which nurture grassroots talent and competition because national leagues and competitions are also the route to European competitions and a proper balance needs to be struck between the national foundation of the game and the European level to enable football leagues and associations to co-operate efficiently;

4.   Maintains that joint selling is fundamental to protecting the financial solidarity model of European football; welcomes a public debate on and further investigation by the Commission into whether this model should be adopted across Europe for both pan-European and domestic competitions, as suggested by the Independent Sport Review 2006; in this respect, calls on the Commission to provide a detailed evaluation of the economic and sporting impact of those media rights decisions and the extent to which they have or have not worked;

5.   Believes that a European-wide joint selling system affords opportunities to new media operators as both UEFA or national associations and the football clubs will be able to offer UEFA Champions League and national league video content on the Internet and mobile phones services using UMTS technology; notes that these technologies are currently in their infancy, making it necessary to revisit the development of this sector in the foreseeable future;

6.   Believes that the current economic reality surrounding players' agents necessitates that football governing bodies at all levels, and in consultation with the Commission, need to improve the rules governing players' agents; in this respect calls on the Commission to present a proposal for a directive concerning players' agents which would include: strict standards and examination criteria before one can operate as a football players' agent; transparency in agents' transactions; minimum harmonised standards for agents' contracts; an efficient monitoring and disciplinary system by the European governing bodies; the introduction of an "agents' licensing system" and agents' register; and ending "dual representation" and payment of agents by the player;

7.   Calls on the Commission to develop clear guidelines on the application of state aid rules, indicating what kind of public funding can be supported and developed in order to fulfil the social, cultural and educational role played by football; in the same respect, believes that the national leagues and associations, UEFA and FIFA would benefit from further guidance of the Commission on the application of EC law to the economic aspects of professional sport;

8.   Calls on the Commission to clarify its approach in relation to the application of State Aid rules in respect of financial or other support granted by local regional or national public authorities for the provision or updating of football stadia or facilities;

9.   Believes that the specific nature and rules of transfers are entirely respected where EC and national laws are applicable; believes, however, that the same level of transparency between international transfers does not exist; asks for reflection on the feasibility of the setting up of a global body of financial transparency of clubs, comparable to the World Anti-Doping Agency and, in this respect, looks forward to the forthcoming Stevens inquiry into transfer dealings;

10. Is opposed to setting up an additional agency at European level in the form of a European sports agency and regards the existing decision-making and dispute settlement bodies as sufficient;

11. Calls on UEFA to include among the respective stakeholders consulted in the decision-making process, representative organisations such as the FIFPro and the European Club Forum; and to harmonise the conditions for competition in Europe by creating a level playing field in compliance with EC law; and to undertake a wide and open structural review on making its decision-making process fully transparent;

12. Asks the Commission and the Member States to work closely with the international, European and national football authorities to reflect on the consequences of a possible liberalisation of the betting market and to look at measures, including the recommendation by the Independent European Sport Review on a directive on betting, which protect the integrity of national and European football competitions;

13. Emphasises the need to ensure full compliance with transparency and money-laundering legislation by entities involved in the football sector.

PROCEDURE

Title	The future of professional football in Europe
Procedure number	2006/2130(INI)
Committee responsible	CULT
Opinion by   Date announced in plenary	ECON 15.6.2006
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Drafts(wo)man   Date appointed	Eoin Ryan 3.4.2006
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	23.10.2006		21.11.2006
Date adopted	20.12.2006
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	34 0 1
Members present for the final vote	Zsolt László Becsey, Pervenche Berès, Sharon Bowles, Udo Bullmann, Elisa Ferreira, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Donata Gottardi, Sophia in 't Veld, Wolf Klinz, Andrea Losco, Astrid Lulling, Cristobal Montoro Romero, Joseph Muscat, John Purvis, Alexander Radwan, Bernhard Rapkay, Dariusz Rosati, Eoin Ryan, Antolín Sánchez Presedo, Manuel António dos Santos, Olle Schmidt, Margarita Starkevičiūtė, Sahra Wagenknecht, Lars Wohlin
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Valdis Dombrovskis, Harald Ettl, Syed Kamall, Werner Langen, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Alain Lipietz, Jules Maaten, Vladimír Maňka, Thomas Mann, Corien Wortmann-Kool
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Reinhard Rack
Comments (available in one language only)	...

OPINION of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (23.11.2006)

for the Committee on Culture and Education

on the future of professional football in Europe
(2006/2130(INI))

Draftsman: Jean-Luc Bennahmias

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Culture and Education, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

A.  whereas the game of football, professional and amateur, is an integral part of Europe’s identity and European citizenship,

B.  whereas football fulfils an important educative role in that it provides an excellent opportunity to learn values such as self-discipline, challenging personal limitations, staying power, team spirit, tolerance, and fair play,

C. whereas football has a cultural role and whereas the collective self-esteem and pride of a town, a region, or a country can hinge on the result of a particular match,

D.  whereas football has a social function and can be regarded as a useful way both to foster a more inclusive society, social integration, and cultural understanding among people of different sexes, races, and faiths, and to combat discrimination, intolerance, racism, and violence,

E.  whereas the social function of football is being jeopardised by the exploitation of young players, illegal betting, money laundering, violence in stadiums, racism, the increased use of drugs, the fact that most clubs have been turned into business enterprises, and wider ownership by media companies; and whereas a holistic approach encompassing sport and national and European authorities is the only effective option,

F.  whereas the Bosman ruling[1] has distorted the initially beneficial role of deregulation in European football in that it has served to debase the game’s underlying values and to undermine solidarity between professional and amateur sport,

G. whereas sport is having a growing impact on the different European policies (freedom of movement, recognition of professional qualifications, competition, health, and audio-visual policy) and whereas a decision was taken to include it in the draft constitutional treaty as a matter of EU competence (Articles 16 and III-182) in order to give the EU powers to develop its European dimension,

1.  Underlines the European Union’s legitimate interest in football, in particular its social and cultural aspects as well as the values it transmits; recognises the Council Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport and its social function in Europe, of which account should be taken in implementing common policies, annexed to the Presidency Conclusions at the Nice European Council’s of 7, 8 and 9 December 2000); notes however that both the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the basic principles of the EC Treaty apply to the commercial and employment aspects of sport; and observes that an ad hoc approach to regulation provides sport with insufficient legal certainty;

2.  Notes that professional football is an economic activity within the meaning of Article 2 of the EC Treaty and as such comes within the scope of the internal market; believes that, as a result, employment and social affairs legislation is fully applicable to the European professional football sector;

3.  Considers that football has suffered from the absence of a clear, stable and predictable legal framework; notes, moreover, that sport is having to deal with a number of disputes, bearing on the legality of its structures and rules, which are likely to cast doubt on the very organisation of the European sports model; therefore calls on the Commission, the Member States and the football authorities to define, in close consultation, an appropriate legal framework in the light of the Independent European Sport Review 2006, so as to prevent further disputes and ensure that the Court of Justice does not determine the future of professional football in Europe; recommends that the framework take as its basis the recognition of the specific nature of sport and of the principles necessary to safeguard fairness and solidarity, and its educative function, and the implementation of harmonised rules guaranteeing healthy competition between European clubs and a level playing field; takes the view, however, that the approach to professional football should not be governed by legal and financial considerations alone; the social and educational dimensions are also important;

4.  Recommends that the Commission adopt measures consistent with the European football authorities’ efforts to ensure that all European clubs are subject to identical financial control in order notably to guarantee financial transparency and prevent financial irregularities and unequal treatment leading to distortions of competition in relation to the economic capacity of clubs; recommends a cost control system;

5.  Recommends the establishment of a European agency for financial transparency in European football clubs, to be called the Sport Agency, consisting of independent lawyers and accountancy experts; and proposes that the agency monitor the financial health of all European professional clubs and that it have a real capacity to impose sanctions;

6.  Welcomes the move by FIFPro (Fédération Internationale des Footballeurs Professionels), UEFA and the European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) to further players' rights by ensuring that players always are given written contracts with certain minimum requirements;

7.  Calls on Parliament and the Commission together with the stakeholders to propose guidelines which recognise the primary role of training centres and which allow for compensation ensuring a certain equality between trainer clubs and non-trainer clubs; proposes that the Member States grant tax incentives to clubs whose training centres are recognised by the ministry concerned according to precise objective criteria; recommends the adoption of the UEFA proposals concerning training of young players and supports the measures proposed by the UEFA to assure that the clubs employ a minimum number of local trained young players; calls for increased investment in youth training, education, and the expansion of non-commercial activities (local community work, women’s teams, etc.);

8.  Encourages UEFA and FIFA together with the European clubs to reach an agreement on the issue of the insurance of the players while they are playing in the national team;

9.  Acknowledges the need to implement employment legislation more effectively in all Member States to ensure that professional players are granted the rights they are entitled to and fulfil the obligations they must adhere to as employees;

10. Urges the Commission, the Member States and the stakeholders to offer better protection of young players, making sure that they do not depend entirely on the clubs, and to make provisions for their health, education and professional training;

11. Recommends the creation of a European statute, supervised by a certification body, for football agents, other sport agents and sports clubs allowing therefore supervision and harmonisation;

12. Believes that the introduction of European licences and diplomas in the field of the provision of services in professional sports would mark a considerable step forward;

13. Supports a Europe-wide return to quotas for national players in their clubs in the interest of protecting local and national identities, this position being that of FIFA and UEFA who advocate a 6+5 rule (6 nationals for every 5 foreign players);

14. Calls on professional clubs to implement strictly the rule pursuant to which each professional club should, as from the 2006/2007 season, have at least four players who were trained in the home region of the club;

15. Calls on the Commission to adopt measures for the protection, care and education of minors to prevent them ending up on the street if they are not eventually selected and to respect immigration law in relation to the recruitment of young talent abroad, notably in Africa and eastern Europe, in order to prevent the exploitation of minors and ensure that they receive a proper education;

16. Recommends that players’ contractual and social rights be promoted and proposes in particularthat regulations dealing with players’ social status, in particular the term of contracts, the definition of the transfer window, possibilities for breaking a contract before its term and compensation for trainer clubs be defined after a social dialogue bringing together the bodies representing the players, clubs, leagues and UEFA; proposes a mechanism allowing trainer clubs to receive compensation calculated objectively on the basis of the costs actually incurred by the club to train the player concerned, the application of ‘resale rights’ to safeguard the principle of solidarity; recommends an in-depth consultation will all parties involved in football with a view to establishing ‘protected periods’ (during which players may not change clubs or where the number of transfers are limited);

17. Calls on Member States, football governing bodies and football clubs to make a commitment to the protection of the health and safety of workers and to take the player as a factor in regulating the sporting calendar, setting a maximum number of games to be played per season not including games played for the national side; calls on the Commission to ensure that relevant health and safety and employment legislation applies to footballers as it would do in regard to any other worker in the EU;

18. Recommends that the prevention of and fight against doping should constitute an important concern for the Member States; calls for a policy aimed at preventing and combating doping and stresses the need to fight irregularities through checks, research, testing, long-term monitoring by independent doctors and through education and, at the same time, prevention and training; calls on professional clubs to adopt a pledge to combat doping and to monitor compliance through internal checks;

19. Calls on the Commission to pursue actions against discrimination, racism and violence, as under European directives footballers too are entitled to a workplace free of racism, following on from Parliament's Declaration of 14 March 2006 on tackling racism in football[2] in which it condemned all forms of racism and violence in general and in stadiums in particular, and to call on all parties concerned to play an active role, eliciting more stringent sanctions against racism and violence, be they on the field or in the stands and to further encourage the exchange of best practices in this area; notes that a key tool to achieving this is for the Commission to ensure the effective implementation by Member States of Council Directive 2000/43, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of racial or ethnic origin;

20. Considers that sports merchandising and the production of sports articles accounts for EUR 1 000 000 000 per annum (the equivalent of producing 40 million footballs per annum); recognises child labour and the abuse of health and safety and labour rights is a severe problem; asks the Commission actively to support initiatives and campaigns to fight child labour in football related industries and examine all political and legal possibilities to ensure that the rights of all workers, including children, are respected.

PROCEDURE

Title	The future of professional football in Europe
Procedure number	2006/2130(INI)
Committee responsible	CULT
Opinion by   Date announced in plenary	EMPL 15.6.2006
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Drafts(wo)man   Date appointed	Jean-Luc Bennahmias 1.2.2006
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	13.9.2006		4.10.2006	22.11.2006
Date adopted	23.11.2006
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	25 3 0
Members present for the final vote	Jan Andersson, Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, Jean-Luc Bennahmias, Alejandro Cercas, Ole Christensen, Derek Roland Clark, Luigi Cocilovo, Jean Louis Cottigny, Harlem Désir, Harald Ettl, Carlo Fatuzzo, Ilda Figueiredo, Joel Hasse Ferreira, Roger Helmer, Stephen Hughes, Sepp Kusstatscher, Jean Lambert, Thomas Mann, Csaba Őry, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Jacek Protasiewicz, José Albino Silva Peneda, Jean Spautz
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Mihael Brejc, Françoise Castex, Luca Romagnoli, Gabriele Stauner, Patrizia Toia, Anja Weisgerber
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Comments (available in one language only)	...

• [1]  Case C-415/93, Bosman [1995] ECR I-4921.
• [2]  Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0080.

OPINION of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (25.1.2007)

for the Committee on Culture and Education

on the future of professional football in Europe
(2006/2130(INI))

Draftsman: Toine Manders

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection calls on the Committee on Culture and Education, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

A.  whereas the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) has handed down a number of judgments in Bosman (C-415/93), Walrave (C-36/74), Deliège (C-51/96, C-191/97), Lehtonen (C-176/96), Meca-Medina (C-519/04 P), Laurent Piau (C-171/05 P) and many other cases,

B.   whereas its Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection commissioned a study in September 2005 entitled ‘Professional Sport in the Internal market’, and whereas it also notes the Independent European Sport Review,

C.  whereas professional football has both an economic and a non-economic dimension,

D.  whereas professional football in this resolution should always be understood to mean the exercise of an economic activity,

E.   whereas professional football clubs and leagues also play a vital social and cultural role in their local and national communities,

F.   whereas for many decades professional football has increasingly been characterised by an international dimension and has equally been affected by different international regulatory and legislative regimes,

G.  whereas professional football, in addition to being a local, national and European socio-cultural phenomenon, is capable of generating significant revenue ,

H.  whereas the importance of the social and cultural aspects of professional football and the traditions and history associated with the game should never be sidelined in a misguided attempt to view top-level professional football as a purely economic pursuit,

I.    whereas, by contrast with the governance in some branches of professional sports such as tennis and cycling, which has been adjusted pro-actively to reflect the changing circumstances in the market, rules and regulations of governing bodies in football have developed passively.

J.    whereas professional football does not function like a typical sector of the economy, and whereas its various actors, including supporters, players, clubs, leagues and associations, do not operate as normal consumers or enterprises,

K.  whereas pan-European competition in professional football depends substantially on equal conditions for the clubs in the different Member States,

L.   whereas ECJ case-law confirms that professional football clubs and associations are economic entities and are thus subject to Community law whenever they pursue an economic activity,

M.  whereas it is thus the responsibility of the national and European political and sporting authorities to ensure that, when Community law is applied to professional football, this does not compromise its social and cultural purposes, by developing an appropriate legal framework,

N.  whereas the Treaty provides no exemption for professional football, but whereas sports regulations that are inseparably associated with the organisation and orderly conduct of a sporting competition, and thus serve to ensure a free contest between the clubs, are not subject to the EC’s legal framework and whereas the declarations of Nice and Amsterdam recognise the specific nature of sport and its social functions,

O.  whereas it has emerged from the above-mentioned cases and others that, in practice, professional football is affected by different kinds of legislation at different levels and from different sources, which are often contradictory and conflicting,

P.   whereas gaming and betting do not come within the scope of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market[1],

Q.  whereas the application of the principles of the single market and competition law to professional football is likely to create a damaging absence of legal certainty; whereas it is thus important to create a clear legal framework to allow for the full development of this sector,

1.   Notes that professional football is not just a major social and cultural phenomenon in Europe but also a source of substantial revenue for a small minority of clubs at the top of the sport’s pyramid structure;

2.   Further recognises that those professional clubs operating at lower financial levels constitute a vital part of the various European football structures and make a valuable contribution to the economies, traditions, heritage and culture of Europe’s footballing nations;

3.   Recognises that professional football must comply with rules and regulations emanating from multiple sources and that this causes ambiguity in an already grey area; states that EC legislation is applicable to professional football while acknowledging the specificity of sport, but also that national legislation in the Member States needs to be applicable to professional football at the domestic level; notes that the application of a third layer of regulation is monitored and controlled by national governing bodies as well as byUEFA and FIFA, respectively the European and world governing bodies in professional football;

4.   Concurs with the European Council’s Declaration of December 2000 on the specific characteristics of sport and its social function in Europe, which supports the independence of sports organisations and recognises that it is the task of sporting organisations to organise and promote their particular sports in the way which they think best reflects their objectives;

5.   Notes that the rules of the governing bodies applicable to professional football may fall either outside or within the scope of the Treaty, and may be capable of justification under, or be prohibited by, the Treaty;

6.   Notes that professional football has suffered from the absence of a clear interpretation of the existing legal framework, and that the recurrence of legal challenges to the structures and rules of the sport has created great uncertainty; believes that greater legal certainty will help all actors involved to make better use of the advantages the internal market provides;

7.   Believes that, before legal stability can be created and promoted, guidance is needed from the Commission on the current legal framework as it applies to professional football;

8.   Notes that the sport faces a number of urgent challenges, particularly with regard to the governance of professional clubs, and, in order to meet these challenges cooperation is required between the EU, the Member States and football’s governing bodies;

9.   Notes that case-law has to a large extent shaped the legal environment in which professional football operates; stresses however that there are a number of outstanding subjects which need further attention at Community level and which relate to the regulation of professional football by UEFA and FIFA; in this regard, recommends a cost control system in order to achieve a balance between the revenues and expenditures of a club and to achieve financial stability and prevent unfair competition; the percentage should be determined by the respective regulating body in Europe;

10. Notes that the most urgent issues currently affecting professional football concern the disturbing proliferation of cases of maladministration of certain clubs, corruption of referees or players and suspected money-laundering; recommends a vigorous campaign by the national and European political and sports authorities to establish greater transparency and good governance in European professional football;

11. , Recognises at all times that matters concerning the general organisation and rules of professional football are best left to the football authorities and that action on the part of the EU should only be taken where necessary;

12. Believes that the national dimension in football, whether at club or at national team level, constitutes one of the most popular elements of the game; notes that the pyramid structure of football in effect integrates national and European competitions in a way which is appealing to supporters; considers that any attempt to remove the national element from football would jeopardise the continued existence of national competitions and teams and, ultimately, such events as the World Cup, and believes therefore that any moves at EU level which might remove the national element should be avoided, as this would be detrimental to the game;

13. Recognises the importance of trade marks in the sports industry except where they are used to impede the free movement of goods;

14. Notes that the concept of persons providing a service in professional sports covers not only those linked with the organisation (club) by means of an employment contract but also those who are free to provide their services throughout the EU;

15. Emphasises the importance of the mutual recognition of professional qualifications gained in another Member State in allowing the free movement of workers and freedom to provide services within the EU as enshrined in the Treaty;

16. Believes that the introduction of European licences and diplomas in the field of the provision of services in professional sports would be a considerable step forward;

17. Notes that there is often a mismatch between the supply of, and demand for, tickets for major football events which is beneficial to sponsors but detrimental to consumers; stresses that the interests of consumers should be fully taken into account when it comes to the distribution of tickets and that non-discriminatory and fair ticket sales should be guaranteed at all levels; acknowledges however that the distribution of tickets may, where appropriate, be restricted to members of supporters clubs, travel clubs or similar schemes, membership of which is available on a non-discriminatory basis;

18. Points out that the televised broadcasting of sports competitions is increasingly taking place on encrypted and prepaid channels, and that such competitions are thus becoming inaccessible to a number of consumers; calls for guaranteed access for the largest possible number of consumers to major football events through the medium of free televised broadcasting; supports the principle of the collective sale of television broadcasting rights, in order to ensure the equitable redistribution of this important financial resource;

19. Calls on UEFA and FIFA to scrutinise their rules and regulations carefully in order to determine whether they have been transparently and democratically agreed and are truly necessary and proportionate for the achievement of the legitimate objectives they seek to pursue; recommends that the football associations provide insurance for the players while they are playing in the national team;

20. Favours maintaining the rule on the provision of players, so as to require clubs to make their players available to the national team without right of compensation;

21. Calls on the Commission to clarify the rules on state aids in the football sector, so as to preserve and develop the public funding of the social, cultural and educational purposes of football;

22. Reiterates its concern about the above-mentioned developments which are currently taking place as a consequence of the tension between the governance structure of professional football and the regulatory environment at EU and national levels; considers that decisions should be taken at the lowest level in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity;

23. Regrets that the binding elements of professional football in the socio-cultural field are under continuous pressure as a result of these developments;

24. Concludes that, in order to meet the above concerns, the following options are available:

      (a) to exclude the sector en bloc from the scope of the Treaty;

      (b) to do nothing and let the ECJ shape the future of European professional football by judgments adverse to the game;

      (c) for Parliament and the Commission, in cooperation with the relevant local, national, European and international stakeholders, and in light of the Independent European Sport Review, to come forward with guidance to assist the creation of legal certainty in the sector;

25. Recommends the third policy option in relation to the role of the EU in the sports sector; recalls that the EU’s involvement should fully respect the principle of subsidiarity; recognises the value of the Independent European Sports Review; expresses in this respect the wish to see the Commission play a more active role; stresses that, with a view to guaranteeing a level playing-field among football clubs at European level, it is of paramount importance that the Commission make its views on this issue clear, thereby also creating legal certainty for all parties involved;

26. Therefore calls on the Commission to come forward with guidance to address the unresolved issues within the legal and economic framework of professional football, while recognising at all times that matters concerning the general organisation and rules of professional football are best left to the football authorities and that action on the part of the EU should only be taken where necessary.

PROCEDURE

Title	The future of Professional Football in the EU
Procedure number	2006/2130(INI)
Committee responsible	CULT
Opinion by   Date announced in plenary	IMCO 15.6.2006
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Drafts(wo)man   Date appointed	Toine Manders 4.9.2006
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	21.3.2006	3.5.2006	19.6.2006	5.10.2006	24.1.2007
Date adopted	24.1.2007
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	33 2 0
Members present for the final vote	Georgi Bliznashki, Gabriela Cretu, Janelly Fourtou, Evelyne Gebhardt, Małgorzata Handzlik, Malcolm Harbour, Christopher Heaton-Harris, Anna Hedh, Edit Herczog, Alexander Lambsdorff, Kurt Lechner, Arlene McCarthy, Toine Manders, Manuel Medina Ortega, Bill Newton Dunn, Zita Pleštinská, Guido Podestà, Zuzana Roithová, Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda, Heide Rühle, Christel Schaldemose, Andreas Schwab, Ovidiu Ioan Silaghi, József Szájer, Marianne Thyssen, Jacques Toubon, Bernadette Vergnaud, Barbara Weiler, Glenis Willmott
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Alexander Alvaro, Benoît Hamon, Joel Hasse Ferreira, Ian Hudghton, Filip Kaczmarek, Véronique Mathieu, Maria Matsouka, Angelika Niebler, Marc Tarabella, Anja Weisgerber
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Comments (available in one language only)	...

• [1]  OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, p. 36.

OPINION of the Committee on Legal Affairs (22.11.2006)

for the Committee on Culture and Education

on the future of professional football in Europe
(2006/2130(INI))

Draftswoman: Maria Berger

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Legal Affairs calls on the Committee on Culture and Education, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

A.  while on the one hand, the existing primary law of the European Community does not confer on the Community any responsibility for sport in general or for professional football in particular, on the other hand neither are they excluded from the scope of application and, among other things, the case-law of the European Court of Justice (Court of Justice) and decisions taken by the European Commission make clear that in particular the ban on discrimination imposed by Article 12 of the EC Treaty, the principle of freedom of movement for workers enshrined in Article 39 thereof, the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services laid down in Articles 43 and 49 thereof, the provisions on competition set out in Articles 81 to 87 thereof and the provisions on employment and social policy have had an impact on sport and professional football,

      - the declarations attached to the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam and the declaration issued by the Nice European Council in 2000 did not change, and did not seek to change, this legal situation,

B.  while the specificity of sport, which is recognised in the Amsterdam Treaty, the Declaration of Nice and the case-law of the Court of Justice, should be recognised and implemented in decisions and legislation by all levels of government, it should also be noted that the application of a layer of regulation is monitored and controlled by national football authorities, UEFA and FIFA, respectively the national, European and world governing bodies in professional football,

C. secondary law also fails to take systematic account of the specific requirements of professional football; this concerns, in particular, the provisions governing the recognition of diplomas and the award of licences to trainers, players’ agents and players from non-EU countries; the Independent European Sport Review also calls for action by the European legislator in the following problem areas linked to professional football: money laundering, betting fraud, exploitation of young players and illegal trading in players, lottery regulation should national monopolies be abolished, measures to combat racism and hooliganism and the black market for tickets,

D. the greater professionalisation and commercialisation of sport in general and football in particular has made EU law much more relevant in this area, a fact reflected in the growing number of cases pending before the Court of Justice and the Commission,

 -    this has greatly exacerbated the problem of legal uncertainty and the sectors concerned increasingly see an approach based solely on treating cases individually as inadequate, a view also documented in the study commissioned by a number of sports ministers in the EU Member States and recently published under the title Independent European Sport Review 2006,

-     the legal uncertainty which currently exists is not only problematical in economic terms, but in particular as regards the performance of football’s social, cultural and educational tasks; it is not clear, for example, whether the UEFA rule stipulating that teams must contain a minimum number of home-grown players, a provision which is extremely important for youth development, would, if it underwent legal review by the Court of Justice, prove to be consistent with Article 12 of the EC Treaty,

E.  Notes that there is a distinction drawn in the case-law of the Court of Justice between the sporting and economic rules of governing bodies applicable to professional football; sporting rules fall outside the scope of the Treaty, while economic rules may fall either outside or within the scope of the Treaty, and may be capable of justification under or be prohibited by the Treaty,

F.  considers that the rules on the composition of national teams[1], or the rules relating to the selection by sports federations of those of their members who may participate in high-level international competitions[2] are purely sporting rules which therefore, by their nature, fall outside the scope of Article 39 and Article 49 of the Treaty. Also among such rules are ‘the rules of the game’ in the strict sense, such as, for example, the rules fixing the length of matches or the number of players on the field, the organisation and conduct of sporting events and championships, given that sport can exist and be practised only in accordance with specific rules. That restriction on the scope of the above provisions of the Treaty must, however, remain limited to its proper objective[3]. The same principles apply with regard to Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty,

G. considers that those covered by measures and decisions of sports tribunals are still, first and foremost, subject to national law, which should safeguard their legal position; thus, the autonomy of the rules of sport does not allow them to be considered to be assigned to dispense judicial protection exclusively, in consideration of the absolute, institutionalised primacy of national courts, which, therefore, excludes all limitation of their constitutional prerogatives,

H.  considers that the choice of public or sports jurisdiction may not be the subject of a prior agreement, with referral of future disputes exclusively to federal bodies and/or arbitrating bodies, but should be the outcome of a free choice by the parties taken following the launch of the action,

I.    considers, however, that the jurisdiction of the ordinary court is valid when disputes centred on disciplinary sanctions imposed by sports tribunals on clubs affiliated to the sporting federations and based on a failure to observe purely technical rules of a sporting nature to a large extent give rise to real and appreciable censure or loss of status of the affiliate. Not only measures to withdraw a sports club’s affiliation to a federation, but also measures to exclude it from a given championship, are outside the conceptual area and the ontological and substantial scope of sporting autonomy, for the simple but decisive reason that these are sanctioning measures which, in that they remove powers and, therefore, subjective legal positions covered by the general judicial sphere of the sports club, preventing them from developing and attaining of the social objective laid down in their constitution, necessarily and incontestably fall within the scope of national law and not solely within that of internal sporting rules,

J.      likewise as a result of this legal uncertainty, it is not clear how much autonomy self-regulating bodies, such as UEFA and national associations, enjoy, to what extent they are bound, when exercising their right to self-regulation and performing their regulatory tasks, by certain principles of EU law (non-discrimination, proportionality, democratic and constitutional procedures, safeguarding of players’ rights), and how free they are to exercise their ‘monopoly’ (problem of the home and away rule, breakaway leagues, trademark law), or whether, when they act both as a regulator and an economic operator in the same market, this results in a conflict of interests or the abuse of a dominant position,

-            the primacy of Community law and access to the normal legal channels of the Member States and of the Union must be safeguarded also in sport,

K.     European football needs a level playing field, in both economic and legal terms, for international competitions, but this is ruled out by the differing arrangements which apply in individual Member States, for example the rules on the (joint or individual) marketing of television rights, the conditions governing free-to-air coverage by public television stations, differing national and/or local rules on subsidies and taxes, the rules governing the use of players from third countries, differing licensing practices and conditions governing the ownership and management of clubs; this state of affairs is also seriously undermining sporting competition,

- the application of EU law, in particular the Bosman judgment of the Court of Justice, has had a positive impact on the rights of professional players, but at the same time, according to FIFPro[4] roughly 50% of professional players in Europe do not have an employment contract with their clubs and many employment and training contracts in this area are legally questionable,

- the article dealing with sport (Article III-282), which was incorporated into the Constitutional Treaty not by the Convention, but rather by the Intergovernmental Conference, shares the uncertain fate of the Constitutional Treaty itself, is already being interpreted in a very wide variety of ways, and is problematical in that professional football today essentially presents itself as an economic activity and the application of EU law should not be kept at bay by invoking ‘voluntary structures’ and social and educational tasks; in overall terms, EU law is not applied in such a manner as to increase legal certainty,

- European football, based as it is on the principle of nationality, needs to strike a proper balance between the national foundation of the game and the European level so as to enable football leagues and associations to cooperate efficiently,

L.     reiterates that, as established by the case-law of the Court of Justice, where a sporting activity takes the form of gainful employment or the provision of services for remuneration, it falls within the scope of Article 39 et seq. of the Treaty or of Article 49 et seq. thereof[5],

M.    considers that the rules providing for the payment of fees for the transfer of professional players between clubs (transfer clauses) or limiting the number of professional players who are nationals of other Member States which those clubs may field in matches (rules on the composition of club teams), or fixing, without objective reasons concerning only the sport or justified by differences in the circumstances between players, different transfer deadlines for players coming from other Member States (clauses on transfer deadlines) fall within the scope of Article 39 et seq. of the Treaty and are subject to the prohibitions which they enact[6],

N.     Considers that the principles extracted from the case-law, as regards the application to sporting regulations of the Community provisions in respect of the freedom of movement of persons and services, are equally valid as regards the Treaty provisions relating to competition and are capable, in an appropriate case, of constituting an infringement of the liberties guaranteed by those provisions and of being the subject of a proceeding pursuant to Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty,

O.     considers that purely sporting rules, that is to say rules concerning questions of purely sporting interest and, as such, having nothing to do with economic activity, do not fall within the scope of the Treaty[7]. Such regulations, which relate to the particular nature and context of sporting events, are inherent in the organisation and proper conduct of sporting competition and cannot be regarded as constituting a restriction on the Community rules on the freedom of movement of workers and the freedom to provide services,

P.     Calls on the Commission, in the context of European football, to provide guidance on the legal framework for the sport, thereby making for a greater degree of legal certainty,

Q.     Takes the view that, although they lay down no specific legislative competence for sport, the EU Treaties contain a wide array of instruments which could be employed as part of an action plan, e.g.:

- European Parliament and Council directives to deal with the issues of licences for players from non-EU countries, the protection of young players and the role of players’ agents;

- group exemptions in connection with various aspects of competition law, e.g. marketing contracts, subsidies;

- Commission directives pursuant to Article 211 of the EC Treaty on the application of competition law; in that connection, steps should be taken to determine whether sporting organisations provide services of general economic interest within the meaning of Article 86 of the EC Treaty;

- the machinery of social dialogue, in particular in connection with issues relating to players’ rights;

- recommendations to the Member States with a view to replacing differing national arrangements with, for example, central marketing systems;

- Council framework decisions, e.g. to combat certain forms of crime;

R.     Calls on the Commission, when developing the action plan, to take up the proposals made in this report and to involve Parliament in all aspects of the drafting and implementation of the action plan and to consult sporting organisations, players’ associations and all other interested parties;

S.     Does not regard the establishment of a specific EU Sports Agency as necessary,

T.     Considers that football’s bodies should be free to govern their sport where their rules are purely sporting; however, considers that, where the rules include restrictions, they must be proportionate, that is, reasonable and necessary to achieve the sporting objective(s) concerned,

U.     Considers that football must ensure the interdependence of competitors and the need to guarantee the uncertainty of results of competitions, which could serve as a justification for sports organisations to implement a specific framework on the market for the production and the sale of sport events; however, considers that such specific features do not warrant an automatic exemption from the Community competition rules for any economic activities generated by professional football owing to the increasing economic weight of such activities;

V.     Considers that Community law - in particular internal market and competition rules - applies where football entails an economic or commercial activity;

W.    Considers that the European Union should provide clear guidance on the type of ‘sports rules’ that are automatically compatible with Community law and the ‘sports-related rules’ where Community law applies;

X.     Considers that a consultation process between the EU Institutions and European football authorities needs to be established, so as to provide a mechanism for confirming which sports rules and practices fall outside the scope of Community law and which do not; considers that such a consultation process could give rise to a formal framework agreement between the EU and UEFA.

PROCEDURE

Title	The future of professional football in Europe
Procedure number	2006/2130(INI)
Committee responsible	CULT
Opinion by   Date announced in plenary	JURI 15.6.2006
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Drafts(wo)man   Date appointed	Maria Berger 30.5.2006
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	11.9.2006		3.10.2006	21.11.2006
Date adopted	21.11.2006
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	21 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Maria Berger, Carlo Casini, Rosa Díez González, Giuseppe Gargani, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Katalin Lévai, Antonio López-Istúriz White, Achille Occhetto, Aloyzas Sakalas, Gabriele Stauner, Andrzej Jan Szejna, Diana Wallis, Jaroslav Zvěřina
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Nicole Fontaine, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Othmar Karas, Eva Lichtenberger, Arlene McCarthy, Manuel Medina Ortega
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Sharon Bowles, Albert Deß, Ewa Klamt
Comments (available in one language only)	...

• [1]  See Case 36/74, paragraph 8, and Case 13/76, paragraph 14.
• [2]  See Joined Cases C-51/96 and C-191/97, Deliège [2000], ECR I-2549, paragraph 64.
• [3]  See Case 36/74, paragraph 9; 13/76, paragraph 15; C-415/93, paragraphs 76 and 127; C-51/96 and C-191/97, paragraph 43; C-176/96, paragraph 34.
• [4]  Fédération Internationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (International Federation of Professional Footballers)
• [5]  See Case 36/74 Walrave and Koch [1974] ECR 1405, paragraph 5; Case 13/76 Donà [1976] ECR 1333, paragraphs 12 and 13; Case C-415/93 Bosman [1995] ECR I-4921, paragraph 73.
• [6]  See the judgments in Case C-145/93, paragraphs 114 and 137; Case C-176/96, Lehtonen [2000], ECR I‑2681, paragraph 60; and Case C-438/00, Deutscher Handballbund [2003], ECR I-4135, paragraphs 56-58.
• [7]  See Case 36/74, paragraph 8.

PROCEDURE

Title

The future of professional football in Europe

Procedure number

2006/2130(INI)

Committee responsible   Date authorisation announced in plenary

CULT 15.6.2006

Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)   Date announced in plenary

ECON 15.6.2006

EMPL 15.6.2006

IMCO 15.6.2006

JURI 15.6.2006

Not delivering opinion(s)   Date of decision

Enhanced cooperation   Date announced in plenary

Rapporteur(s)   Date appointed

Ivo Belet 13.2.2006

Previous rapporteur(s)

Discussed in committee

11.9.2006

9.10.2006

27.11.2006

Date adopted

29.1.2007

Result of final vote

+ - 0

27 2 2

Members present for the final vote

Christopher Beazley, Ivo Belet, Guy Bono, Marie-Hélène Descamps, Jolanta Dičkutė, Věra Flasarová, Milan Gaľa, Ovidiu Victor Ganţ, Claire Gibault, Vasco Graça Moura, Lissy Gröner, Sándor Kónya-Hamar, Manolis Mavrommatis, Ljudmila Novak, Doris Pack, Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański, Christa Prets, Karin Resetarits, Pál Schmitt, Gheorghe Vergil Şerbu, Nikolaos Sifunakis, Hannu Takkula, Helga Trüpel, Henri Weber, Thomas Wise, Tomáš Zatloukal

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Emine Bozkurt, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Mary Honeyball, Reino Paasilinna, Grażyna Staniszewska, Jaroslav Zvěřina

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

Toine Manders, Raimon Obiols i Germà, Gérard Onesta

Date tabled

13.2.2007

Comments (available in one language only)

35 Members present but only 31 votes as the quote of the respective political groups were fulfilled.