EAEU Court put an end to discussion about labor relations of  athlete-legionnaires

ArmInfo. On the appeal of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) issued an opinion on the application of the  provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 97 of the Treaty on the EAEU in  relation to athletes engaged in working in sports clubs of the Union  member states.

According to clause 2 of Article 97 of the Treaty on the EAEU, the  countries of the Union do not establish and do not apply the  restrictions stipulated by their legislation for the protection of  the national labor market in relation to the workers of the Member  States. The exceptions are the restrictions established in order to  ensure national security and public order.

The EAEU court concluded that the non-use by Member States of clause  2 of Article 97 of the Treaty on the EAEU in relation to the work  carried out by professional athletes is a barrier to achieving the  goal of creating a single labor market within the EAEU.

In addition, in the opinion of the Big Board of the EAEU Court,  member states are obliged to execute the decisions of the EEC, and if  they disagree with them, they are entitled to appeal these decisions  in the prescribed manner. Non-compliance with the decisions of the  Commission, which entered into legal force and are not contested in  the established manner, is not consistent with the Treaty on the  EAEU.

To recall, on May 11, 2017, the EEC Board decided to deprive athletes  of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union of the status of  legionnaires in other states of the union. For example, Armenian or  Belarusian footballers will not be considered legionaries in the  Russian championship. The EEC then explained that this is an example  of what Eurasian integration provides for citizens of the union - in  this case, the removal of barriers in the labor market, but in fact  athletes continued to face problems. This made the EEC turn to the  court of the EAEU.