The Lisbon Treaty and Sport

On the back of last week’s agreement by the President of the Czech Republic to sign the Lisbon Treaty, the ratified document could come into action as soon as January 2010.  Following the implementation of the new Treaty there will be some implications of interest to sport.

The Treaty contains a competence on sport which states “The Union shall contribute to the promotion of European sporting issues, while taking account of the specific nature of sport, its structures based on voluntary activity and its social and educational function”.

In practical terms this means that the EU will be able to influence issues such as defining best practice and defining sport in terms of legislation. However, a key point to note is that the European Union will not have the power to harmonise sporting regulations across Europe. This means that they will not have control over sporting rules or policies.

Sports Policy News will keep the sports bodies up to date with any initiatives at an EU level which may have an effect on them.