Work
19.May 2008 - 00:00
Exercise and gambling
A Commission White Paper considers sport from three different points of view: its societal role, its economic dimension and its organisation (COM(2007)0391). The declaration on sport appended to the Nice Treaty did not result in the legal certainty for the physical activity sector which organisations had sought. The definition of the particular features of sport remains unclear and ad hoc, and the Commission's White Paper does not solve the problem. In future cooperation on physical activity, Member States and the Commission should aim to work together to clarify these issues.
The Commission's views on the scope for physical activity to promote social participation in the policies, measures and programmes of the European Union and Member States are correct. It is important to ensure that equal opportunities are available to special groups and both sexes in sport. It is to be welcomed that the Commission recognises the significance of public financial support for physical activity, especially at grassroots level, and that that the Commission intends to advocate the application of a reduced rate of VAT to sport. The understanding of the special characteristics of activity of general interest is likewise to be welcomed. Sports club activities should remain the province of nongovernmental voluntary organisations. This can be influenced, inter alia, by decisions on the taxation of voluntary work.
In a number of Member States, including Finland, funding of physical activity is dependent on revenue from gambling. The White Paper refers to public funding of sport, to its clarification and to how the changes which are occurring in the sector affect public and private funding of grassroots physical activity.
What legislation will the Commission propose in order to safeguard public funding of physical activity in future too in an economically sustainable and predictable manner, and how will the Commission ensure that monopoly systems for the control of gambling remain at national level, and that decision-making on the organisation of gambling does likewise?
Answer given by Mr McCreevy on behalf of the Commission
In the White Paper on Sport the Commission acknowledges that ‘sport organisations have many sources of income, including club fees and ticket sales, advertising and sponsorship, media rights, re-distribution of income within the sport federations, merchandising, public support, etc.’ Those sources of funding will vary from country to country and from sport discipline to sport discipline. The Commission is also aware that there are no sufficiently sound and EU wide comparable data available on different aspects of the economic dimension of sport, including the financing of sport.
For this reason, the action plan ‘Pierre de Coubertin’, accompanying the White Paper, envisages a number of actions that will help to improve the quality of data which will then allow for better strategic planning and policy-making in the area of sport. Those actions will include, among other things, developing a European statistical method for measuring the economic impact of sport (Action 33), launching a study to assess the sport sector's direct and indirect contribution to the Lisbon Agenda (Action 35), and carrying out a study on the financing of grassroots sport and sport for all in the Member States, which will contribute to the reflection process on sustainable funding for grassroots sport (Action 37).
With regards to the grassroots sport where equal opportunities and open access to sporting activities heavily depend on strong public involvement, the Commission is in favour of such support provided it is granted in accordance with Community law.
The Commission has no intention to propose any harmonisation instrument in order to safeguard public funding of sport or physical activity in the Member States. The Commission wishes to underline that it is up to each Member State to establish its own rules for funding of sport and physical activities. It should be noted that national systems for sport funding that would impose restrictions on the freedom of establishment (Article 43 of the EC Treaty), the freedom to provide services (Article 49 of the EC Treaty) or the free movement of capital (Article 56 of the EC Treaty) must be compatible with Community law. In particular, any provision therein contained must be non-discriminatory and proportionate.
As regards the Honourable Member's specific reference to gambling, it must be noted that each Member State must ensure that its national regulatory scheme relating to the organisation and control of gambling is compatible with Community law, irrespective of the number of licensed operators established in that Member State.
A Commission White Paper considers sport from three different points of view: its societal role, its economic dimension and its organisation (COM(2007)0391). The declaration on sport appended to the Nice Treaty did not result in the legal certainty for the physical activity sector which organisations had sought. The definition of the particular features of sport remains unclear and ad hoc, and the Commission's White Paper does not solve the problem. In future cooperation on physical activity, Member States and the Commission should aim to work together to clarify these issues.
The Commission's views on the scope for physical activity to promote social participation in the policies, measures and programmes of the European Union and Member States are correct. It is important to ensure that equal opportunities are available to special groups and both sexes in sport. It is to be welcomed that the Commission recognises the significance of public financial support for physical activity, especially at grassroots level, and that that the Commission intends to advocate the application of a reduced rate of VAT to sport. The understanding of the special characteristics of activity of general interest is likewise to be welcomed. Sports club activities should remain the province of nongovernmental voluntary organisations. This can be influenced, inter alia, by decisions on the taxation of voluntary work.
In a number of Member States, including Finland, funding of physical activity is dependent on revenue from gambling. The White Paper refers to public funding of sport, to its clarification and to how the changes which are occurring in the sector affect public and private funding of grassroots physical activity.
What legislation will the Commission propose in order to safeguard public funding of physical activity in future too in an economically sustainable and predictable manner, and how will the Commission ensure that monopoly systems for the control of gambling remain at national level, and that decision-making on the organisation of gambling does likewise?
Answer given by Mr McCreevy on behalf of the Commission
In the White Paper on Sport the Commission acknowledges that ‘sport organisations have many sources of income, including club fees and ticket sales, advertising and sponsorship, media rights, re-distribution of income within the sport federations, merchandising, public support, etc.’ Those sources of funding will vary from country to country and from sport discipline to sport discipline. The Commission is also aware that there are no sufficiently sound and EU wide comparable data available on different aspects of the economic dimension of sport, including the financing of sport.
For this reason, the action plan ‘Pierre de Coubertin’, accompanying the White Paper, envisages a number of actions that will help to improve the quality of data which will then allow for better strategic planning and policy-making in the area of sport. Those actions will include, among other things, developing a European statistical method for measuring the economic impact of sport (Action 33), launching a study to assess the sport sector's direct and indirect contribution to the Lisbon Agenda (Action 35), and carrying out a study on the financing of grassroots sport and sport for all in the Member States, which will contribute to the reflection process on sustainable funding for grassroots sport (Action 37).
With regards to the grassroots sport where equal opportunities and open access to sporting activities heavily depend on strong public involvement, the Commission is in favour of such support provided it is granted in accordance with Community law.
The Commission has no intention to propose any harmonisation instrument in order to safeguard public funding of sport or physical activity in the Member States. The Commission wishes to underline that it is up to each Member State to establish its own rules for funding of sport and physical activities. It should be noted that national systems for sport funding that would impose restrictions on the freedom of establishment (Article 43 of the EC Treaty), the freedom to provide services (Article 49 of the EC Treaty) or the free movement of capital (Article 56 of the EC Treaty) must be compatible with Community law. In particular, any provision therein contained must be non-discriminatory and proportionate.
As regards the Honourable Member's specific reference to gambling, it must be noted that each Member State must ensure that its national regulatory scheme relating to the organisation and control of gambling is compatible with Community law, irrespective of the number of licensed operators established in that Member State.