Sport in the European Constitution : All Sound and No Fury?

This contribution discusses the formal inclusion of sport in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. It shall assess whether Articles I-17 and III-282 can be legitimately expected to provide the necessary impetus to create a coherent and deliberate European sports policy. In order to come to a balanced judgment in this respect, the past and present dealings with sports issues of the European institutions, predominantly the European Commission and the Court of Justice, shall be analysed. It will become clear that the introduction of sport as an official Union policy in the Constitutional Treaty would not entail drastic changes in the EU approach to sport, but could nevertheless generate a number of positive effects