HIGHLIGHTS - OCTOBER 2004

15 November 2004

1. European Court of Justice approves ban on laser game The simulated shooting of people with laser guns in leisure facilities cannot be justified by EU law. This ruling has been reached by the European Court of Justice in the case of a laserdrome centre. The operation of that centre had already been prohibited by the city of Bonn in 1994. German courts had upheld the ban, citing as grounds the violation of human dignity. The laser game operator holds the view that, in doing so, German jurisprudence obstructs the free movement of services. In addition, the operator cited the fact that the game was authorised in Great Britain. The ECJ, to which the appeal was referred, has now ruled that the freedom to provide services can be restricted if even only one Member State deems human dignity to be violated by a product or its application. 2. Commission investigates in amateur sports In the framework of evaluating the regulations of national sport federations the European Commission urged Spain for an official statement concerning the possible infringement of art. 12 EC-Treaty (prohibition of any discrimination based on nationality). This letter of formal notice goes back to the „case Harmann”. The Spanish football federation refuses to issue a German student a player’s pass for amateurs, evoking a regulation that stipulates that foreigners older than 23 may only play football on a lower regional level. For Spanish nationals there is no such restriction of age. The student therefore lodged a petition with the European Parliament and a complaint at the Commission. The European Commission now decided to invite the Spanish Government with a letter of formal notice to comment on the situation within two month. Moreover the Commission’s departments are investigating also the arrangements regarding the access to amateur sport of other Member States. Already in spring 2004 the Commission had asked the national ministries in charge to hand in the respective information. The Commission considers that the right to take part in certain competitions organised by sport organisations should be regarded as a social benefit and thus is excluded from any discrimination based on nationality. Furthermore the Commission underlines that this formal notice does neither affect the freedom of sport associations to organise their sport nor the rules for the selection of national teams. 3. Premiere lodges complaint against ARD / ZDF and ORF Against the background of the awarding of broadcasting rights for the 2008 European Football Championship, the German pay-TV channel Premiere wants to lodge a complaint with the European Commission against the public service broadcasters ARD, ZDF (Germany) and ORF (Austria). Premiere had already announced, one year ago, that it was instituting proceedings against ARD and ZDF in Brussels on the grounds of broadcasting rights awarded for the DFB (German Football Association) national cup competition. Premiere is now accusing the public service channels of operating a monopoly, through their umbrella organisation EBU (European Broadcasting Union), for the purpose of purchasing broadcasting rights for large sporting events. In this way, licence-payers’ money is, it claims, being used to acquire a comprehensive catalogue of rights, which would subsequently not be used but were lost to other suppliers and, therefore, to the viewer. In this, Premiere refers to the digital exploitation of the rights. It bases its complaint on a ECJ appeal verdict, according to which the EBU is wrongly obstructing competition in sports broadcasts. 4. EU supports Paralympic School Day The European Union will support a project organized by the European Paralympic Committee (EPC) within the so called Joint Actions of the Programmes Sokrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth. The project’s aim is to create awareness and understanding in elementary schools about people with a disability. This multicultural project will change the attitudes of youth without a disability towards people with a disability and provide an advocacy tool for elementary school teachers to use. Seven partner organizations from six different European nations will co-operate on a national level with an elementary school, an institute of higher physical education, and a sports federation for the disabled. Together, they will implement an education program in the elementary school for one full day. During the day pupils will listen to stories from sportsmen with a disability, look at sport activities on a video, participate in adapted physical activities, games and sports and experience the potential accessibility of their school from the perspective of people with a disability. During the Paralympic School Day (PSD), elementary school teachers will go through a theoretical and practical vocational training seminar. The final script including all educational material used and a vocational training manual, will enable participating European countries to implement the program in their schools into the future.

HIGHLIGHTS AUGUST-SEPTEMBER

12 October 2004

1. Commissioners designate heard in Parliament In the course of the investiture procedure of the new Commission 2004-2009 the Commissioner designate for education and culture, Jan Figel, attended a hearing in the European Parliament on 27 September 2004. In his opening remarks Jan Figel underlined the importance of sport in education and in the upbringing of children. The values conveyed through sport such as teamwork, fair play or tolerance must be nurtured. Figel hopes that the constitutional treaty including the sport article enters into force soon. The Finnish MEP Takkula referred to the sport article in the constitutional treaty (art 282) and asked Figel how an EU action could support cooperation with international organisations in the field of sport and if there is already a financial perspective for sport. The Austrian MEP Prets asked Figel to inform the committee which themes and priorities the Commission will take before the constitutional treaty enters into force. Figel answered that the European Year of Education through Sport (EYES) has to be evaluated first. Then, based on that evaluation, future EU actions could be deduced from. Speaking about the free movement of workers, Figel stated that it should not be possible that an ERASMUS student studying in an EU-country is barred from playing in an amateur football club. Figel referred to the Harmann-Case, a German student in Spain who was refused, according to the federation’s statutes, to play as an amateur in a certain Spanish league. 2. Judgment in the Case Medina and Majcen vs. Commission Background: In 1999 the professional swimmers David Meca-Medina (Spain) and Igor Majcen (Slovenia) were tested positive for doping in Brazil. The International Swimming Federation suspended them under the Olympic Movement’s Anti-Doping-Code for four years. The suspension was afterwards reduced to two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On 30 May 2001 the swimmers filed a complaint with the European Commission, DG Competition, challenging the compatibility of the International Olympic Committee’s anti-doping legislation with the Community competition rules and the free movement of services. The Commission did not follow this view and rejected the complaint on 1 August 2002 reasoning that the anti-doping rules were not subject to art. 81 / 82 of the EC-Treaty (abuse of a dominant market position). Meca-Medina and Majcen then brought an action before the Court of First Instance against this rejection. Judgment of the Court of First Instance on 30 September 2004 The complaint against the decision of the European Commission was rejected. The Court stated that the anti-doping code, following the cases Walrave, Deliege and Lethonen, was a purely sporting rule. Given that the anti-doping rules do not pursue any economic objective but intend to preserve “the spirit of fair play”, they cannot be judged by means of the European competition rules. The two swimmers were of the opinion that the anti-doping code could not be regarded as a purely sporting rule because of its economic repercussions. The court overruled this objection explaining that the IOC’s legitimate concern of safeguarding the economic potential of the Olympic Games when adopting the anti-doping code is not sufficient to alter the purely sporting nature of that legislation. Furthermore the Court referred to the Declaration of Amsterdam which emphasises the social significance of sport and calls on the bodies of the European Union to give special consideration to the particular characteristics of amateur sport. 3. Revision of the Driving Licence Directive The Commission is planning to revise the current Driving Licence Directive (91/439/EEC). This proposal would affect athletes who use a trailer to transport their equipment. The usual driving licence for cars has, to date, entitled the holder to drive a car-trailer combination with a total weight of 3500 kg. This means, for example, that a 1500 kg vehicle can tow a trailer of the same weight. The Commission’s new proposal restricts the permitted maximum weight for trailers in driving licence class B to 750 kg. In future only holders of driving licence class B+E are to be allowed to tow trailers exceeding that weight and ‟E” is being introduced as a new driving licence class. This new class would require an additional test. Members of the relevant transport committee have already been made aware of the misgivings of the sports sector by means of an appropriate position statement. Within the framework of the first reading in the European Parliament in early 2005, the EU Office will initiate further measures with its partners. 4. Report on safety at the European Football Championship 2004 On 30 August Portugal submitted a report to the Council on safety during the EURO 2004, which was held this summer. In order to be able to turn hooligans away before they cross its border, from 26 May to 4 July 2004 Portugal suspended the Schengen Agreement, which allows the free movement of people without passport controls. In the process, 4,507 were refused entry into Portugal.

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