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European Sports Law pp 425–441Cite as

The White Paper on Sport as an Exercise in ‘Better Regulation’

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Part of the book series: ASSER International Sports Law Series ((ASSER))

Abstract

The quest for ‘Better Regulation’ has been a major preoccupation of the European Commission in recent years. The campaign possesses its own website, which helpfully collects relevant documentation and reveals three priorities (which do not concern the Commission alone): promoting simplification, reduction of administrative burdens and impact assessment as tools of better regulation, working more closely with Member States to ensure that principles of better regulation are applied consistently throughout the EU, and reinforcing dialogue between stakeholders and regulators at EU and national level.

First published in The International Sports Law Journal 2008(1–2), pp. 3–8.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cf., Weatherill 2007A; Radaelli and De Francesco 2007.

  2. 2.

    See, e.g., Ogus 2004; Baldwin and Cave 1999; Hood et al. 2004.

  3. 3.

    See, e.g., Commission Report, ‘Better Lawmaking 2005’, COM (2006) 289, 13 June 2006; Commission Report, ‘Better Lawmaking 2006’, COM (2007) 286, 6 June 2007.

  4. 4.

    Cf., e.g., Moravcsik 2005, 349.

  5. 5.

    Cf., e.g., Ambler and Chittenden 2007.

  6. 6.

    This is by no means an issue exclusive to the EU: see, e.g., Halberstam 2004, 731.

  7. 7.

    Cf. the Commission’s own White Paper on European Governance, COM (2001) 428. For a critical examination of the debate about legitimacy see Menon and Weatherill 2008.

  8. 8.

    Cf., Moloney 2007A, 627. See also contributions by Moloney 2007B, Welch 2007 and Payne 2007.

  9. 9.

    European Contract Law and the revision of the acquis: the way forward, COM (2004) 651, 11 October 2004; Green Paper on the Review of the Consumer Acquis, COM (2006) 744, 8 February 2007.

  10. 10.

    E.g., ‘Withdrawal of Commission Proposals Following Screening for their General Relevance, their Impact on Competitiveness and other Aspects’ (2006) OJ C64/3.

  11. 11.

    White Paper on Sport, COM (2007) 391, 11 July 2007.

  12. 12.

    SEC (2007) 932, 11 July 2007. For general discussion of the value of impact assessment at EU level see Chittenden et al. 2007 and Meuwese 2007.

  13. 13.

    Para. 5.4.

  14. 14.

    Case 36/74 [1974] ECR 1405.

  15. 15.

    See, e.g., Parrish 2003; Greenfield and Osborn 2000, eds.; Weatherill 2007B; Szyszczak 2007, Ch. 1; Van den Bogaert and Vermeersch 2006, 821.

  16. 16.

    Case C-415/93 [1995] ECR I-4921.

  17. 17.

    See note 15 above. Parrish and Miettinen provide a systematic recent treatment in Parrish and Miettinen 2008.

  18. 18.

    Cases C-51/96 & C-191/97 Deliège v. Ligue de Judo [2000] ECR I-2549.

  19. 19.

    Para. 64 of the judgment.

  20. 20.

    Decision 2003/778 Champions League [2003] OJ L 291/25, Paras. 125–131. Exemption pursuant to Art. 81(3) was granted on the facts. See Weatherill 2006B, 3.

  21. 21.

    COMP 37.806 ENIC/UEFA, IP/02/942, 27 June 2002.

  22. 22.

    For extended analysis see Parrish and Miettinen 2008; also Weatherill 2007C, Ch. 3.

  23. 23.

    Case T-313/02 [2004] ECR II-3291.

  24. 24.

    Case C-519/04 P [2006] ECR I-6991.

  25. 25.

    Para. 49 CFI.

  26. 26.

    Para. 27 ECJ.

  27. 27.

    Para. 28 ECJ.

  28. 28.

    Para. 47 ECJ.

  29. 29.

    See Weatherill, 2006A, 645; Wathelet 2006, 1799; Parrish and Miettinen 2008; Auneau 2007, 361; Rincon 2007, 224; also Wathelet 2007, 3.

  30. 30.

    See, e.g., Infantino 2006; Zylberstein 2007, 218.

  31. 31.

    COM (2007) 391.

  32. 32.

    On which see generally, e.g., Scott and De Burca 2006.

  33. 33.

    Brussels, 10.12.1999, COM (1999) 644 final.

  34. 34.

    Pp. 35–40, and see also the extended treatment in the Annexes.

  35. 35.

    Case C-519/04P, n. 24 above.

  36. 36.

    Independent European Sport Review, October 2006.

  37. 37.

    The Arnaut Report is stated to have been prepared with the advice of José Luis da Cruz Vilaca. It seems implausible that such a distinguished jurist could have approved the final text of the Report.

  38. 38.

    The White Paper largely ignores Arnaut - see only a bland reference in footnote 7 on p. 13 – while the Staff Working Document shows little enthusiasm for it (e.g., at p. 28 it dismisses the recommendation that sport enjoy exemption from the state aid rules).

  39. 39.

    See Case C-243/06 Oulmers/Charleroi, referred to the European Court by Tribunal de Commerce de Charleroi in May 2006, and still pending. For background see Weatherill 2005, 3.

  40. 40.

    E.g., in Weatherill 2004, Ch. 4, 113–151; also in Weatherill 2003, 51.

  41. 41.

    COM (1999) 644. For comment see Weatherill 2000B, 282.

  42. 42.

    Cf., Weatherill, 2000A, 155–181; Halgreen 2004.

  43. 43.

    IP/01/583, 20 April 2001.

  44. 44.

    Comm. Dec. 2001/478 OJ 2001 L171/12.

  45. 45.

    Paras. 49–61 of the Decision. The Commission will monitor change in market structure, particularly in the wake of what is called at the time the ‘Internet revolution’, Para. 56.

  46. 46.

    Para. 59.

  47. 47.

    E.g., pp. 35, 37.

  48. 48.

    Weatherill 2007C, Ch. 3, at 57–64. Cf. most recently Case C-438/05 Viking Line judgment of 11 December 2007, Para. 53 of the judgment.

  49. 49.

    Cf., e.g., Cuendet 2007.

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  1. Somerville College, Oxford, UK

    Stephen Weatherill

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Weatherill, S. (2014). The White Paper on Sport as an Exercise in ‘Better Regulation’. In: European Sports Law. ASSER International Sports Law Series. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-939-9_16

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