ABSTRACT
There are two conflicting moves in labour market freedom of movement in Europe. First, there is the European Community’s declared intention to move to a free market in labour (especially as a result of the Single European Act, 1986), among member states by 1993, and the decision of the European Union of Football Associations (representing a far wider constituency than merely the European Community states) to limit the free movement by, for instance, restricting the number of foreign footballers to four per squad for European competition matches from season 1991–92 (and to classify, for example, Scots, Welsh and Irish as ‘foreigners’ in England). This UEFA rule has recently been described by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Cheshire East as ‘illegal under the Treaty of Rome as it restricts the freedom of movement of labour and goes against the concept of an open market’. In any event it seems that a decision on free movement in football’s case has already been postponed until at least 1995.
