Memorandum by the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport (DCMS)
1. This evidence is presented after consideration
of the questions outlined on page 2 of the House of Lords Call
for Evidence, and responds to the Culture, Sport and Tourism policy
areas which fall within the remit of the EU Sub-Committee G.
SUMMARY
2. The Reform Treaty addresses three areas
of specific DCMS interest: Culture, Sport and Tourism. These areas
have all been treated at European level before, albeit slightly
differently. However, it is important to emphasise that there
is not, and never has been any EU competence to harmonize national
laws in any of these areas on the basis of the specific reference
to them in the Treaties. Any harmonisation has been, and will
remain, on the basis of competencies in other fields, such as
the internal market, which may of course touch on culture, sport
and tourism. The Reform Treaty does not significantly alter the
way the EU will engage with these areas of DCMS interest. However,
there are certain slight changes which will have correspondingly
slight implications. These are set out below.
CULTURE
3. On Culture the only change to Article
151 is that cultural issues will now be subject to Qualified Majority
Voting, rather than Unanimity. This means that no single Member
State can veto European Union initiatives on cultural programmes.
The UK was content with this and agreed to this dossier moving
to QMV. This will simplify the decision-making process in an area
that has consistently proven to be in the UK's interest.
4. Culture remains an issue dealt with in
individual Member States. However, the EU can develop programmes
which support cooperative cultural initiatives in Member States.
These initiatives, such as the Culture 2000 programme and its
successor, have all been beneficial to UK cultural organisations.
SPORT
5. The expanded Treaty text represents an
increased and more formal role for sport within the EU, which
is also reflected in the proposals outlined in the recently published
EU White Paper on Sport. The Treaty provides a legal base for
sport, and will enable the Commission to develop a sports programme
and budget. It also provides for cooperation on education and
sport programmes outside of the EU. The Treaty should therefore
be viewed in accordance with a wider EU policy programme for sport
which recognises the positive interrelationship between sport
and other activities, such as health and education, and which
includes the consideration of sport within the policy development
of other Commission services.
6. The text recognises that sport has certain
specific or "special" characteristics which should be
considered in the application of EU law (although the Commission
is clear that where sport constitutes an economic activity it
is subject to the application of EU law). The autonomy of sport,
also reflected in the White Paper, for which there has been general
support from stakeholders, continues to be acknowledged. The Government
welcomes this; activity in this area must be underpinned by a
clear commitment to the autonomy of sport and can be supported
only where clear value is added to existing national policy.
7. The UK supports the broad intention of
the Treaty text, although further discussion will be required
to determine the detail of how this competence, and the associated
White Paper proposals, will operate in practice. We expect the
Commission to spend the next year developing an EU Sports Programme,
which should provide for greater discussion and exploration of
the role of sport within the EU.
TOURISM
8. The Reform Treaty expands the role of
the EU within the Tourism sector, aiming to encourage a favourable
environment and promoting cooperation between the Member States.
9. However, the new text of Article 176b
confines the Union role to complementing the actions of Member
States and excludes any harmonisation of national laws. The DCMS
broadly supports the new provision.
10. Although it is difficult to predict
what measures the EU might choose to adopt in practice, a pointer
on where the Commission might push for action is the area of Sustainability.
An indication of future actions is set in a recent Communication
(October 2007) "Agenda for a sustainable and competitive
European Tourism", where the Commission announces how the
EU will support the Sustainable European Tourism process. The
Communcation is in line with UK sustainable tourism development
policies. It recognises the importance of the development of a
competitive economic activity and the need to balance this with
environmental and social aims.
11. It also acknowledges the decentralised
nature of tourism in many countries and the importance to respect
the principle of subsidarity and to work with a bottom up approach
within the context of supportive national and European policies.
12. This was also the case with the previous
Communication (March 2006) "A renewed EU Tourism Policy"
which placed tourism firmly within the framework of the Lisbon
Agenda for growth and jobs, clearly focussing on the better regulation
agenda.
14 December 2007
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