Council of Europe Convention on an integrated safety, security, and service approach at football matches and other sports events (CETS No 218): authorising Member States to become party

PURPOSE: to authorise Member States to become parties, in the interest of the European Union, to the Council of Europe Convention on an integrated safety, security and service approach at football matches and other sports events.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2019/683 authorising Member States to become parties, in the interest of the European Union, to the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events (CETS No 218).

CONTENT: this Council Decision authorises Member States to become parties to the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Approach to Safety, Security and Services at Football Matches and Other Sports Events (CETS No 218) concerning Article 11(2), (3) and (4) of the Convention.

The Council of Europe Convention on an integrated safety, security and service approach at football matches and other sports events was adopted at Saint-Denis on 3 July 2016 and has been open for signature and ratification since then. It aims to provide a safe, secure and welcoming environment at football matches and other sports events.

The commitments stipulated in Article 11(2), (3) and (4) of the Convention, concerning national football information points (NFIPs) may affect common rules or alter their scope within the meaning of Article 3(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as those provisions coincide with certain obligations contained in Council Decision 2002/348/JHA, which specifies the tasks of NFIPs and sets out rules for cooperation between them, in particular with respect to exchanging police information.

The Union cannot become party to the Convention, as only States may be parties thereto. Member States shall therefore be authorised to sign and ratify the Convention, acting jointly in the interest of the Union, in respect of those parts of the Convention that fall under the exclusive competence of the Union.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are taking part in the adoption of this Decision, while Denmark is not.