POSTED: Monday November 30th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lisbon Treaty gives a boost to sport

Articles 6 and 165 stress the significance of sport in Europe, recognise its specific nature and define the promotion of sport as a Community objective.

 

The
International Olympic Committee (IOC) is delighted to see the position
of sport in the European Union (EU) strengthened through the Lisbon
Treaty. The new EU Treaty will come into effect tomorrow, and, for the
first time ever, will provide a legal basis for sport - something for
which the Olympic and Sports Movement has been fighting for the last 15
years. Articles 6 and 165 stress the significance of sport in Europe,
recognise its specific nature and define the promotion of sport as a
Community objective.

Jacques Rogge, President of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC), said: “We have come a long way.
I thank the member states for their strong commitment to sport over the
last years. The impact of sport in the EU is huge, as is the influence
of EU policies on sport. It really is time to move from a case-by-case
approach to an environment where the specific characteristics of sport
can be taken into account properly.”

The reference to sport in
the Lisbon Treaty, which also mentions the “specific nature of sport”,
provides the necessary instrument to do so. It should allow sport to be
looked at not only from a purely economic point of view, but also from
its voluntary structures as well as its social and educational role.
Furthermore, sport’s fundamental principle of financial re-distribution
for the purpose of sporting development distinguishes it from other
industries. In this regard, the Olympic and Sports Movement has been
confronted with several challenges in the past, especially when it came
to judgments of the European Court of Justice on pure sporting rules.
For instance, the protection of national teams and the regulations
concerning free movement of professional athletes need to be addressed
in the light of sport-specific rules and the particular characteristics
of international sport.

Whilst the European Union is not given
any direct legal competences for sport, its role will be to support and
promote actions of the member states in this field, following the
principle of subsidiarity. “We fully support this approach since the
European Union should support and not regulate sport”, stated Patrick
Hickey, President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC).

This
indicates that sport organisations in Europe will gain momentum through
more funding opportunities. The reference to sport in the Lisbon Treaty
enables the set-up of a specific EU sports funding programme as well as
a better mainstreaming of sport in existing programmes.

In the
coming months, the focus of the Olympic and Sports Movement, which took
a clear and unified position on the autonomy and specificity of sport
last year, will now be on the proper implementation of articles 6 and
165. It is about protecting sport’s autonomy on the one side, and
safeguarding the integrity of sporting competitions on the other side.
“We are ready to contribute with our expertise to fill the new articles
on sport with life and make it a success story for everybody. The
Spanish government has already invited us to work closely together in
the first half of 2010. We are ready to do so and also to continue with
the regular and structured dialogue that we have built up with the EU
institutions”, said Mario Pescante, IOC Vice-President and Chairman of
the IOC International Relations Commission.

Under the Spanish Presidency, a formal Council of Sports Ministers will take place for the first time ever.

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Keywords · IOC · Treaty of Lisbon · Jacques Rogge

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Name: Sandrine Tonge
Organization: IOC International Olympic Committee
Email:
Phone: +41 21 621 60 00
URL: http://www.olympic.org

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