Sport, policy and European Union: the post-Maastricht agenda

Abstract

The Treaty on European Union marked the process of establishing the social and political prerequisites for a successful economic union in Europe. Incorporated within the Treaty was a recognition of the EU's role in aspects of leisure policy, specifically tourism and culture. There has been a movement on the part of certain sporting bodies to lobby EU institutions to consider the addition of sport as one of the EU's areas of competence in the revisions of the Treaty under consideration in 1997. This paper outlines the nature of this lobbying process, the parties involved and their respective positions, and seeks to clarify the strategic relations which exist in this policy field.