\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cbr /\u003eSport is life, fun, passion but also business. It is not easy to draw a \nbright line between sport as an economic activity and sport as a crucial \ncultural element of society. In Europe, the stakes are prodigious from either \nperspective. On the one hand, sport represents 4% of the GDP of the European \nUnion; on the other, there are in the EU more than 800,000 sport clubs with \nmore than 70 million members. In numerous ways, the former depends on the \nlatter, giving rise to a plethora of subtle tensions. For decades the EU \ninstitutions have struggled with the legal issues that arise from these \ntensions, and the debate has come to be encapsulated in the complex concepts \nof the \u0026#8216;sport exception\u0026#8217; and the \u0026#8216;specificity of sport.\u0026#8217; Now, the pending \nReform Treaty, if ratified, will finally provide a legal basis for a Community \naction in the field of sport.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThis new collection of essays presents nine well-informed and insightful \nanalyses of the \u0026#8216;specificity\u0026#8217; debate from several distinct points of view. The \nbook reprints the papers presented by outstanding academics as well as \nrepresentatives of the sport world at a conference on the \u0026#8216;Future of Sport in \nthe European Union\u0026#8217; held at the Catholic University of Brussels in December \n2007. The authors examine the legal and political issues related to the latest \ndevelopments at the EU level, and their impact on the sport organisations, in \norder to better understand the future of sport and to answer the questions \nwhich will inevitably arise from the new situation.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nAmong the topics arising in the course of the presentations are the following:\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\npure \u0026#8216;sporting interest\u0026#8217; vs. \u0026#8216;economic activities\u0026#8217; within the overall meaning \nof Article 2 EC;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nwhether the EU legal order in fact applies to sport activities;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\napplication of EC law to rules governing the composition of national sports \nteams, especially as defined in \u003ci\u003eBosman\u003c/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMeca Medina\u003c/i\u003e cases;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nrelation of sport to freedom of association and the principle of subsidiarity;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\ninitiatives to share use of financial gains from television rights;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nrole of bylaws and other regulations of federations at every level;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nresponsibility of sport organisations vis-\u0026#224;-vis the rules of public order;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nfreedom of labour and free movement of workers as applied to sportsmen and \nsportswomen;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nthe right to privacy, image included;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nthe \u0026#8216;European sport model\u0026#8217;;\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\nprotection of young sportsmen and sportswomen from commercial pressures; and\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\neconomic and social role of volunteering activities in sport.\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nAs an analysis of the future directions of EU sport law, this book provides an \nin-depth assessment of the impact of current policy changes. At a time when a \nnew European treaty is being drafted, and when new questions on sport are \nbeing referred to the European Court of Justice, these cogent analyses of \nEuropean law applicable to professional sport will be of great value to \nprofessionals concerned with sport in any of its guises.\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e
nl
en