Our European Officer David Foster and Head of Policy James MacDougall shared a day trip to Brussels this week, here David blogs on their work.
In Brussels this week to discuss some of the pertinent issues on the current European sports agenda. With the European Parliament preparing its resolution on the Commission’s recent Communication on “Developing the European Dimension of Sport” and the newly adopted Council work plan, the European Union is seeking to push forward with its priorities in the field of sport.
Our first meeting was with Emma McClarkin MEP to discuss the progress of the European Parliament’s forthcoming resolution on sport - due in the autumn. While consensus remains strong over the need to combat match-fixing, ensure sustainable financing for sport at grassroots level and promote sport across other policy streams, there is likely to be more contention over proposals for the EU flag to be flown at all European sports events!
Next we paid a visit to DG EAC to see Gianluca Monte and Michal Krejza from the European Commission’s Sport Unit. Gianluca informed us that the Commission will be conducting a study into match-fixing to establish what legal frameworks are in place at Member State level – this could potentially lead to harmonisation across the EU that would see sporting fraud made illegal, but only if there was sufficient support from Member States. Michal Krejza told us that a funding programme for sport could be announced in the coming weeks. Discussions on the Multi-annual Financial Framework have reached a critical moment and current indications look positive for sport. Nevertheless, the “dark cloud hanging over Brussels” and the current debt crisis in Greece have made future financial negotiations even more unpredictable so sport will have to wait and see if the EU is still prepared to provide it with a full budget line.
Finally, we met with officials from DG TAXUD to discuss the European Commission’s take on taxation of athletes’ endorsement income. Existing HMRC policy means that sports stars are liable to pay huge amounts of tax on their overall endorsement incomes while competing in the UK. Some of you will remember that this is why Usain Bolt refused to compete in the UK last year and it remains a problem for all performing artists and not just athletes. The Commission told us that while this tax policy is unlikely to be illegal under EU law, it is an issue that that the Commission may look at when they come forward with proposals on double taxation later in the year. Although details are very unclear at the moment, the sport movement can only hope that any positive movements from Europe on this issue may eventually translate themselves into policy changes in the UK so that the world’s top sports stars compete more frequently on our shores.
