Grassroots Sport And The European Union

Potential of sport is under-exploited at both EU and national level despite its ability to deliver on core policy objectives in the health, education, employment and social spheres. This report considers how the EU can maximise the potential of sport in its own policy making and delivery and how it can help Member States do likewise. It looks at how EU legislation should be applied to sport in order to ensure the sustainability of grassroots sport, particularly its revenue streams from the broadcasting of professional sport. The reports main recommendations include: there is value in a dedicated sport fund but there is greater potential value in main-streaming it into other EU funding streams, including the structural funds and through ensuring redistribution from professional sport. The EU should include sport in its work on digital piracy and should look further at whether the gambling industry should be required to pay a 'fair return' to sport; different Member States are more advanced in certain areas than others, for example Finland on levels of participation among older people, offering potential for the sharing of best practice. The Commission should create a web portal which allows grassroots organisations to make links with each other; the voice of grassroots as well as professional sport need to be heard in Brussels. Dialogue between the Commission and sports organisations needs to be made more representative

The name "Brussels" has become largely synonymous with the regulatory role of the EU. Yet "Brussels" is also a source of inspiration, especially in such areas where the EU is not empowered to regulate, and this side of "Brussels" is a rather different one. The emerging policy field of sport (which only recently got a legal base in the Treaty of Lisbon) illustrates the complementarity of inspiration versus regulation coming "from Brussels". By drawing on two case studies - the fight against doping and the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity - the book shows that inspiration "from Brussels" takes on a special dimension in relation to sport and physical activity because sport policies are often heavily dependent on various, largely unquestioned arrangements which are in place at national, regional or local level. While EU-level regulation remains a possibility in certain cases, the scope for regulation is very limited. The scope for inspiration, by contrast, is almost endless. The sport sector is a natural candidate for inspiration and inspiration "from Brussels" can be an opportunity for renewal.

Given the impact that successive court rulings have had on the organisation of the sports movement in the past 15 years, the autonomy of non-governmental sports organisations has become a highly topical concern in Europe. It is also closely related to the issue of governance, the subject of previous Council of Europe studies. The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) decided to explore the concept of autonomy in greater depth by studying the conceptual, political, legal, economic and psycho-sociological aspects of the subject. This study was carried out at the request of the EPAS by the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) on the basis of a questionnaire sent to public authorities in charge of sport and to national and international umbrella sports organisations. In addition to an analysis of the data obtained, documents produced by public authorities and sports organisations on this emerging issue are presented. This study contributes to a better understanding of the concept of autonomy and offers a clear picture of the issues involved.

Progression in sustainable sports practices is an up-and-coming area of research that also has an overarching impact on other professional fields. Analyzing the latest trends and methods in this niche area allows for further advancements in the field of sustainability. Grassroots Sustainability Innovations in Sports Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a crucial resource that offers an in-depth discussion on growth in the sports sector and how incorporating sustainable practices in this field’s rising trajectory can further enhance its impact. Highlighting pertinent topics including innovation dynamics, management studies, corporate social responsibility, and systemic change, this publication is ideal for academicians, students, and researchers that are interested in expanding their knowledge of intertwining sustainable actions with sports administration.

The Romanian Sports Federations (NSFs) are faced with decreasing number of athletes and lack of funds for grassroots sports program. Beside that low level practice of sport activities in Romania compared with other European Union (EU) countries determined us to find solutions on how to improve this ratio. Using qualitative methods such as interviews and questionnaires we tried to determine what the EU National Olympic Committees have done to receive the EU support towards NSFs, what their knowledge is in this regard as well as to create guidelines, a model we should follow.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. Adopting a distinctive legal and political analysis, this book argues that the EU is receptive to the sports sectors claims for special treatment before the law. The book investigates the birth of EU sports law and policy by examining significant court decisions, the possibility of exempting sport from EU law, sport and the EU treaty, and more.

This work outlines the historical, political, legal and institutional basis of the European unification process. It also describes and analyses the sport policy of the European Union, focusing on a number of topics such as the Bosman case.

This book explores the organisation and structure of sport in and beyond Europe. Drawing upon up-to-date data, the collection’s main focus lies on the relationship between public sport policy structures and sport (con)federations. The authors present thirteen country-specific contexts wherein sport policy systems are embedded. This evidence provides in-depth descriptions and analyses within a solid academic and theoretical framework. This volume will be of interest to students and scholars of Sociology of Sport, Sport Management and Sport Policy.