Ensuring a level playing field in the EU

Date: 04/12/03

Continuing our series of "soapbox" commentaries by MEPs for European Voice special reports, two deputies discuss current European Commission policies affecting football

England's Premiership mustbe able to collectively sell itsTV rights. The clubs need the cash, writes Jonathan Evans

ON 1 MAY 2004, Competition Commissioner Mario Monti gains important new powers to tackle cartels and the abuse of market power.

On behalf of the European Parliament, I worked closely with him to secure this important modernization of competition policy.

But many of us are now anxious that his officials seem less interested in using these powers to root out clandestine commercial wrongdoing across the EU than in trying to fully reconfigure existing TV markets - particularly the high profile sporting rights markets.

The current Commission row with the English Premier League over football broadcast rights is the clearest sign of this.

Collective selling of these TV broadcast rights is vital for most Premiership teams as the income is shared more fairly than if the more glamorous clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were able to sell their TV broadcast rights individually.

This was recognized by the restrictive trade practices court in London, which has approved the current Premiership/BSkyB deal. Monti's original concerns over the structure of packaging of TV rights seem to have been addressed, with four separate packages and 12 different combinations of rights available for a record number of games.

But senior Commission officials have recently revealed a new agenda. The Commission is apparently no longer prepared to accept that a single broadcaster should be successful in what was an open-tendering process.

The Commission is insisting that some of the live TV broadcast rights must be sold to a terrestrial broadcaster. The process, it seems, must also be restructured to give market opportunities for new media, such as internet and mobile phone companies.

But the Commission must surely face up to the commercial realities of broadcasting finance.

In recent weeks, Commissioner Monti has waved through the Carlton/Granada merger of the UK's biggest independent terrestrial broadcasters. EU officials seem to want Carlton/Granada to also gain TV football broadcast rights.

They even seem prepared to manipulate their competition powers - current and future - to achieve this. But, just a year ago, these same companies walked away from their l460 million deal with the Nationwide football league, the competition for the three divisions below the top-flight Premiership. The result of this was many clubs from those lower divisions face, or have gone into, bankruptcy.

It is unlikely that TV company shareholders would be keen to see them re-enter the live football broadcast market - other than if those TV rights are gifted to them.

The Commission and Parliament are united in seeking to promote the interests of EU consumers. Destroying the financial base of the Premiership cannot be in their interests.

• Jonathan Evans MEP is leader of the UK Conservatives in the European Parliament, as well as being a Cardiff City fan. He is the Parliament's rapporteur on the modernization of EU competition policy and was formerly corporate affairs minister in the UK government responsible for competition.

The European Commission was right to examine Italy's "Save Soccer" degree, argues Alexander Radwan

I AM a member of Bayern Munich. But that means that I am a fan - I do not receive any money to represent them.

I am also a member of the group of MEPs known as "Friends of Football". This brings together MEPs and groups that are interested in things related to European clubs and to football in general.

Friends of Football is more than just a cosy get-together. UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations) and others tell us their views and we discuss different points - especially European policies, mainly in the competition field - on issues such as broadcasting rights.

Another big issue at the moment is the November decision by the European Commission to examine what is happening in Italian soccer.

I believe the Commission was right to look as Italy's "Save Soccer" decree - which currently gives a life-line to the country's top clubs by allowing them to spread the cost of expensive players over their accounts for ten years.

Regulations should not allow big clubs such as AC Milan to recklessly spend too much on players and their salaries, without the fear of going bust.

We live in a European Union, and we have pan-European competitions such as the Champions League and European finals.

However, if on one hand you have this European competitive field, and then on the other a system whereby you can spend as much as you like - because you have been given state support on the tax side and on how you do your accounting - it is not fair.

It is basically a way of financially supporting the Italian clubs against their rivals in other countries, such as my team Bayern Munich.

For the big clubs there is a pan-European market for players. These days it is often a worldwide one.

The bigger teams are looking to sign the best players and, in Europe, it doesn't matter whether you are German, French or whatever - we have free movement of labour in the common market, and everyone wants to move around.

For example, take England's David Beckham, who signed for Real Madrid from Manchester United in the summer.

I do not think fans will lose out if the Italian clubs struggle to "buy big" as a result of the Commission's action. I do not really expect the big clubs to go under at the moment.

The question for me is whether the big Italian clubs have a cash problem. If that is the case, then let's see how it can be solved. But any problems cannot be overcome by allowing these clubs to continue what they are doing.

The bottom line is that the Italian Serie A clubs have been spending more money than they actually have.

I have heard that AC Milan is now trying to sign some of the best young Stuttgart players.

Of course it is right that they should try to sign the best, but only under fair conditions.

If the man-in-the-street spent more money than he actually had, people would say he was crazy.

• Alexander Radwan is a German Christian Democrat MEP. He sits on the the Parliament's committees for economic and monetary affairs, as well as industry, external trade, research and energy.

Jonathan Evans and Alexander Radwan, both Members of the European Parliament, discuss European Commission policies affecting football.