When in 2005 the draft of a European Constitution failed, sport was left without any article of its own and, thus, without a legal framework on the EU level. That is why the European Commission started a process to implement legal regulation of sports nevertheless.

The immediate beneficiaries of the EU Commission’s proposed action plan on sport will be academic institutions in member states. Named after Pierre de Coubertin, the action plan does not have many suggestions for actions but instead proposes research projects on a wide range of issues in European sport.

UEFA president, Michel Platini, is calling for less judicial interference in sport. His comments are reinforced by four of Europe’s team sport federations and the UK sports minister, all backing the European white paper on sport’s proposals for less legal interference in sport.

Last round in the wheel of fortune for Denmark, Finland and Hungary has been set off by The European Commission. In the spinning business of betting the EU Commission has issued Reasoned Opinions against the three EU member states to consider their gambling monopolies and make sure they are not contradicted by EU law.

A European database will be established to study the economic effects of sport, its role in national economies and its impact on the labour market.

The EU Commission now invites everyone to fill in a survey about the kind of involvement EU should have with sport in the future. The commission stresses that the survey is open to all individuals and not just sports organisations.

Ministers of sport from 49 European countries want to set up a new body under the auspices of the Council of Europe to strengthen European policymaking in the area of sport. As something new, the new body will also be open to international sports federations and sports NGOs.

About a month after having posted a joint and quite strongly worded letter to European Commissioner Jan Figel, the tone from FIFA and the IOC seems to soften a bit.