The B-EU-tiful game?

As we never tire of pointing out, the Lisbon Treaty has made sport an EU competence, which means various EU initiatives, decided on by majority voting, in this area are sure to be coming our way soon. The Commission is due to carry out a consultation with member states and relevant organisations in the first half of 2010 regarding the implementation of the Treaty's sports provisions, with the first 'sports programme' expected in 2012.

The UK's Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe visited Madrid only this month to meet with his Spanish counterpart to discuss what might be on the agenda for sports regulation this year. Some may remember that in 2008 he managed to resist French plans - launched under its EU Presideny - for an EU-wide 'super' regulator for football, and other sports, which would have seen European football association UEFA able to enforce guidelines on the English Football Association. Then French Sports Minister Bernard Laporte said provocatively that the EU should help address the dominance of English teams in the Champions League.

FIFA was lurking in the background trying to establish its 6+5 rule, which would have made it compulsary to field six domestic players, which would have hamstrung the big English clubs.

However, the UK managed to convince the EU that its free movement rules should apply and the proposal subsequently died a death, although UEFA's watered down 'home-grown' rule was accepted. A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said at the time, "We support the special nature of sport but cannot support block exemption from EU law."

Up to now the European Court of Justice has used EU free movement and competition law to rule on cases concerning professional football, treating it as any other economic activity. In it's Bosman ruling it denied authorities the right to set player quotas by nationality and allowed players the freedom to move clubs for free once their contracts had expired.

However, the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty changes the game. It allows the EU to take into account "the specific nature of sport" and potentially exempt it from the rest of EU law, including free movement and competition provisions laid down under the Single Market. The UEFA President has long argued that football should be treated as its own entity, distinct from EU employment regulation, which would allow him to regulate as he sees fit.

And it seems that UEFA is going to test the current legal ambiguity with a new set of proposals aimed at curbing the spending of Europe's biggest clubs by banning heavily indebted clubs from European competitions. The Premier League will once again be in its sights.

The proposal states that its aim is to "improve the financial fairness in European competitions", which is striking similar to a clause in the Lisbon Treaty that says "promoting fairness and openness in sporting competitions" shall be an objective of the Union.

If the big clubs or the big leagues were to protest against these proposals it will be up for the EU to decide how to interpret the Treaty and the ambiguities outlined above.

The fact that Lisbon formally makes sport an EU competence only serves to strengthen the power of the EU to shape how football will be regulated in the future. The voting rules under Lisbon also mean that the UK is unable to veto EU initiatives in this area, which could prove highly significant.

And in the end, the new rules mean that the UK could be powerless if UEFA has the EU's backing to push its new proposals through.

Platini Vs Parliament

In an "impassioned speech" to the European Parliament, Uefa President Michel Platini has restated his belief that football is a special case and should therefore be exempt from EU competition laws.

Platini argued that, "Professional football is no more a financial service than it is an agricultural activity. It is just as absurd to want to regulate football through the automatic application of competition law as it would be to do so through the Common Agricultural Policy."

Platini was hoping to see off any interference from MEPs in Uefa's plans to regulate football.

He has criticised the big spending of Europe's top clubs before and he once again called for a cap on player wages and transfer fees.

His latest proposal, though, is to outlaw international transfers of players under the age of 18. He argued that, "The European Commission talks of free movement of workers from the age of 16. This might have seemed reasonable in the 1950s, but is that still the case today for most skilled jobs, at a time when many European countries have raised the school-leaving age to 18?"

In a hefty tug at MEP heartstrings, Platini added, "Some people talk about the free movement of workers. I am talking about the protection of children."

This proposal provides another test for EU free movement rules and will potentially deprive talented young football players of access to the best training and opportunities. In an increasingly competitive profession, which is usually over by a player's early 30s, this looks like a proposal too far.

We're inclined to think the EU and Europe's big clubs will agree...

football

The "EU fiftieth birthday" match against Man U is in danger of turning into some sort of metaphor. The "Europe XI" team is a great reflection of the EU:

Beckham has pulled out citing injury / Far too expensive, and slightly past its best?

They have had to bring in three Brazilians to make it any good / Overtaken by globalisation and international competition...

Maybe the whole state of football is a reflection of the EU - how did something that everyone likes get hijacked and turned into a massive corporate enterprise remote from ordinary punters... (one controversy at a time please - Ed.)

UPDATE:

At the press conference yesterday Marcelo Lippi admitted that they struggled to find players to play in the EU team, and that high profile names such as Zinedine Zidane turned down the opportunity. "It was initially supposed to be a European team only, but there are players from other continents to now... so many people dropped out". Jose Barroso said "I think that it is very good that there are non-Europeans in the European team... I think football is a globalised activity now, it is something that was invented in Europe and we can be proud of it."

Bobby Charlton was asked whether he thought this is the first step to the UK joining the euro (cue chortling from Brussels journalists): "No I don't... but as far as being together in Europe I think what we're doing today is our contribution at the present time."