One of the basic principles of the internal market is the free movement of persons, including free movement of labour. The principle of freedom of movement for labour means that any discriminatory treatment on the grounds of nationality of employees from EU countries in relation to employment, pay and other working conditions must be abolished. One instance in which the principle of freedom of movement for labour was applied was the so-called Bosman case.
The Bosman case
The substance of the case was that the old football club of the Belgian professional footballer Jean-Marc Bosman could, according to the transfer rules, demand a sum of money if Bosman, whose contract had expired, was signed up by a new club.
In addition, the case concerned the question whether national or international sport organisations or associations could have rules which limited access to their tournaments for foreign players who are citizens of an EU country.
Bosman applied for a ruling from a national court stating that the transfer rules and the so-called foreigner clauses were not applicable to him because they violated both the EU’s rules of competition and the EU’s provisions on freedom of movement for labour. These questions were put before the EC Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.
The EC Court of Justice concluded in the Bosman judgment that the transfer rules were in conflict with the provisions of the EC Treaty on freedom of movement for labour, since the transfer rules directly affected the access of players to the labour market in other Member States and could therefore constitute a barrier to the free movement of labour. The Court rejected the arguments that the rules could be justified in the interests of maintaining economic and competitive balance between clubs and support for young players, since these aims could be achieved by other means which did not impede the free movement of labour.
In addition, the Court concluded that, under the provisions of the EC Treaty on freedom of movement for labour, it was not possible for sport associations to make rules according to which football clubs might only use a limited number of professional players who were citizens of other Member States in the official matches which the associations organised.
Apart from the 27 EU countries, the judgment also applies in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which are members of the EEA. The EEA Agreement gives employees and self-employed businesspeople the right to freedom of movement and establishment in the EU. Switzerland is not a member of the EEA but has entered into an agreement with the EU on freedom of movement between the EU and Switzerland.