In the presence of UEFA President Michel Platini, the Union’s European affairs ministers have reiterated that sport is not a ‘merchandise’ like others and insisted on the promotion of sport and physical activities as factors of public health. A debate on the subject took place during a working dinner on the occasion of their informal meeting, on 12 July in Brest, France.

The participants gave their support to the European Commission’s communication on the ‘home-grown players’ rule (to be included in a team). This system, advocated by UEFA, was endorsed by EU Sport Commissioner Jan Figel, because it respects the free movement of workers. There is no explicit nationality condition contained in the rule ⁽¹⁾

These reflections will continue at the sports ministers’ meeting, on 7 July in Beijing, and their informal gathering, on 25-26 November.

For the rest, discussions concerned the white paper on sport presented in July 2007 by the Commission (see Europolitics3448). Also discussed was the Franco-Dutch memorandum on sport, which was signed on 24 October 2007 (the two countries asked the Commission to reflect on clarifying the legal status of sport as well as the main issues linked to this activity: funding, player training, composition rules for sports teams and broadcast rights ⁽²⁾)