Sport in the European Union – at the Crossroads of Competences – Implications of the Application Of Article 165

Abstract

The European Union acts only within the limits of the competences conferred upon it by the Member States in the Treaties to attain the objectives set out therein. In the field of sport, the Member States did not initially confer any powers to the European Union. Nevertheless, first the European Court of Justice and subsequently the Commission have insisted that in so far as sport constitutes an economic activity it falls within the scope of the Treaty. In order to limit the EU’s interventions in sport, in the mid-90s of the 20th century, sports bodies began to advocate for the inclusion of provisions on sport in the Treaties. Sport was first mentioned in the Lisbon Treaty. This paper attempts to analyze the development of sport and sports law in the EU, which can be divided into three phases. Therefore, first, the practice of the EJC and its most significant judgements are discussed. Then, the Amsterdam and Nice Declarations are presented. These declarations are particularly significant because they emphasize the importance of respecting the specificity of sport as an economic activity. Special attention is paid to the implications of the application of article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.