The European Social Dialogue: A New Mode of Governance for European Football?

In 2008 a social dialogue committee for European professional football was established and in 2012 it concluded its first agreement on minimum requirements in standard player contracts. The dynamics behind the establishment of the committee are numerous but the Europeanisation of industrial relations in football is strongly connected to the liberalisation of the European labour market for players following the European Court’s judgment in Bosman. That social dialogue in European football can deliver more wide ranging agreements akin to those found in US sports remains a long term prospect, but in the shorter term the committee can be influential in recalibrating governance standards in European football and seeking solutions to specific problems within the sector.