2. Sport is one of the areas of activity that most concerns and brings together the citizens of the European Union, irrespective of age and social origin. More than half of them regularly practice a sport, either in one of the 700 000 clubs that exist in the Union or outside these clubs. Almost two million teachers, instructors and voluntary workers spend their working or leisure time organising sporting activities. These people play an essential role of education and social integration, at a time when our societies are experiencing major problems of social cohesion and cultural identity.

3. This social function of sport, which is in the general interest, has for some years been affected by the emergence of new phenomena of a different nature which sometimes call into question the ethics of sport and the principles on which it is organised: phenomena such as violence in the stadiums, corruption, the spread of doping, the exploitation of young sportsmen and women, and the search for quick profits to the detriment of

10. The increase in the number of court proceedings is the sign of growing tension: for example, the Bosman judgment, delivered by the Court of Justice in December 1995 on the basis of the principle of freedom of movement for workers, has had major repercussions on the organisation of sport in Europe. It has done much to eliminate certain abuses and to promote the mobility of sportsmen and women. However, it has affected the economic balance between clubs and players and has caused problems for the training of young people in clubs. Certain clubs which had established training centres for professional sportsmen and women have seen their best people leave, without the clubs being able to obtain any compensation for the investment they have made in training.

· the increase in the number of lucrative sporting events, which may end up promoting the commercial approach, to the detriment of sporting principles and the social function of sport;

· the temptation for certain sporting operators and certain large clubs to leave the federations in order to derive the maximum benefit from the economic potential of sport for themselves alone. This tendency may jeopardise the principle of financial solidarity between professional and amateur sport and the system of promotion and relegation common to most federations;

a more balanced development of sport.

8. With this in mind, Community action could focus on the following objectives:

Principles for partnership between the European Institutions, the Member Sates and the sports organisations

9. The development of positive measures to preserve the social function of sport must go hand in hand with the creation of a more certain and more stable legal environment, so that this social and educational function can be reconciled with the increase in the economic dimension of sport.

Some common words found in the essay are:
European Union, Amsterdam Treaty, Justice December, European Community, Institutions Sates, European Council, sportsmen women, social function sport, sports organisations, function sport, european union, social function, sporting activities, sport european, social integration, Sociology Sport, european approach sport, partnership european institutions, search quick, quick profits, economic dimension sport, search quick profits,
Approximate Word count = 1287
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)