The Sporting Exception in European Union Law is the definitive account of EU sports law. It provides a modern legal framework based on an analysis of major European Court of Justice judgments including Walrave (1974), Don... (1976), Bosman (1995), Deliège (2000), Lehtonen (2000), Kolpak (2003), Piau (2005) and Meca-Medina (2006). It also provides advanced commentary on the major sports-related competition decisions of the European Commission. Broadcasting issues, rules affecting player mobility and issues of sports governance are analysed, as are current issues in EU sports law including the Oulmers case, home-grown players, players' agents, the Services Directive, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the 2006 Independent European Sports Review, the 2007 Commission White Paper on Sport, the Reform Treaty and prospects for social dialogue. The work is a resource for academics, lawyers and sports administrators and students of sports law and EU law programmes.

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.

This new collection of essays presents nine well-informed and insightful analyses of the 'specificity' debate from several distinct points of view. The book reprints the papers presented by outstanding academics as well as representatives of the sport world at a conference on the 'Future of Sport in the European Union' held at the Catholic University of Brussels in December 2007.

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 book strikes a balance between international sporting governing bodies’ interests and values enshrined in rules regarding sporting nationality on one hand, and athletes’ rights under EU law on the other. It argues that some rules governing athletes’ eligibility in national teams in their current form, notably certain waiting periods, quotas for naturalised athletes or athletes having previously played for another country, and rules prohibiting the change of sporting nationality, constitute a disproportionate restriction on athletes’ rights under EU citizenship, free movement of persons, competition law or fundamental rights. Accordingly, the book subsequently presents concrete recommendations for international sporting governing bodies on how to reconcile their interests and values with the rights that athletes enjoy under EU law. As such, it offers an essential guide for these bodies and their representatives, as well as for athletes, academics and practitioners in the fields of law and sports.