Background

• Under Article 165, the Lisbon Treaty gives the EU soft competency powers in the field of sport policy. This means that, while EU can’t introduce legally binding, harmonised pan-European legislation, it can promote and coordinate policies and facilitate cooperation between international sports bodies.
• The first major EU policy document was the White Paper on Sport in 2007. This was later followed by the 2011 Communication on Sport which was designed to complement and develop certain aspects of the White Paper.
• More recently, the Commission adopted a new ‘Work Plan’ under the Hungarian Presidency which outlines the key priorities for the Commission over the next three years. It also establishes six ‘expert groups'.

Status

• In an effort to ensure more consistency between the priorities of successive presidencies, the Commission has outlined integrity (anti-doping, good governance and match-fixing), the social role of sport (health, social inclusion, education and volunteering) and the economic value of sport (sustainable financing, evidence-based policy making) as key areas for the next three years in its Work Plan.
• The EU is currently negotiating the multi-annual financial framework for 2014-2020 and it is the intention for it to contain a dedicated budget line for sport. Initial signals are looking positive but in these times of financial constraint we will have to wait and see whether it comes to fruition.

For more information please contact David Foster.

European Commission's current priorities as outlined in the Sport and Recreation Alliance's EU Summit.