Suchergebnisse

This contribution discusses the formal inclusion of sport in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. It shall assess whether Articles I-17 and III-282 can be legitimately expected to provide the necessary impetus to create a coherent and deliberate European sports policy. In order to come to a balanced judgement in this respect, the past and present dealings with sports issues of the European institutions, predominantly the European Commission and the Court of Justice, shall be analysed. It will become clear that the introduction of sport as an official Union policy in the Constitutional Treaty would not entail drastic changes in the EU approach to sport, but could nevertheless generate a number of positive effects.

In a series of recent judgments, the Court of Justice has developed its approach to games of chance and online gambling. It has made it clear it will not use the EU free movement of services provisions to liberalize the internal market for games of chance. Member States are given a remarkable discretion to regulate gambling services. To this end, the Court applies its standard test for restrictions very flexibly, including even an interesting moral strand, on the basis of overriding reasons in the general interest and objectives of combating fraud and gambling addiction. The remaining scrutiny is essentially left to the national courts. As far as the award of licences is concerned, the requirements of transparency are applied more strictly, which may have a significant impact on market access. This contribution provides a thorough analysis of the EU framework now in place for games of chance. In addition, it proposes some general guidelines for the needed political, legislative activity at the EU level. Such activity could enhance both revenue and Member State control over gambling services, whilst allowing cooperation between them to achieve their individual objectives.