Issue Framing and Institutional Constraints in EU Agenda-Setting: an Analysis of European Union Sport Policy

Abstract

The article uses agenda-setting to analyse the process which saw sport included in the new EU programme, Erasmus+, despite cuts in the EU’s budget. In doing so, the article addresses gaps in two bodies of literature. On the one hand, it contributes to developing the study of EU agenda-setting. On the other hand, the article analyses recent developments in EU sport policy, a body of literature that has not paid attention yet to decisions taken after the entering into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009). The article applies conceptually guided process tracing through written documents and 25 semi-structured interviews with representatives from the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The analysis shows how the Commission overcame blockades by framing sport initiatives as part of the wider agenda on economic growth through education, training and participation in grassroots sport, thus obtaining a funding stream for a new policy area in a time of austerity measures. The research illustrates that agenda-setting is a useful conceptual framework for explaining not just radical but also incremental policy changes on the EU agenda.

Brexit and global sport power Europe

“…The European Commission (2007) White Paper on Sport dedicated a whole section to governance issues. Once Article 165 TFEU was adopted and EU sport policy formalised, governance and/or integrity of sport have featured in the priorities of the successive workplans designed by the Council and the European Parliament (García, de Wolff, & Yilmaz, 2018). The EU has been active in the area of sport governance, however it has always stopped shy of any type of direct regulation, not least because Article 165 TFEU prevents it to do so in principle.…”

“…The interest of the EU in sports governance is clearly exemplified in its constant presence as a priority of the different 3-year EU work programmes on sport. The most relevant policy outputs are a deliverable by a Council Expert Group on Good Governance group that defined principles of good governance in sport, Council conclusions on good governance in sport, and a Pledge Board on Good Governance in Sport (García et al, 2018). The latter is a nor very well know soft-policy instrument where sport organisations can voluntarily make public their commitment to good governance principles.…”