For the European Commission
At the core of this assignment lies the question of sport’s specificity and the justification for derogation from normal employment practices. The rules are examined in relation to sport’s alleged specificity as an actiivty deserving specific treatment in the implementation of general law which, to a large extent, justifies the autonomy of sports institutions in regulating their competition. This research has been undertaken in the context of the policy objective to assert a European dimension of sport that goes beyond the mere implementation of rules on the free movement of players or competition.