After more than a year of rumour and speculation, Force India and Sauber have formally launched a complaint with the European Union's Competition Commission concerning the management and governance of Formula One. Despite the lodging of the complaint, which many see as justified, there is no guarantee that the EU will find cause to act.
Should they choose to take up the teams' complaint, any EU investigation will be slow to reach a conclusion. Previous investigations have taken years, not months, to complete, and there is no guarantee that the EU's findings will result in any change to the way F1 operates.
As previously reported, the Competition Commission has fixed rules concerning what does and doesn't merit investigation - it is the potential impact on the consumer that bears the most weight with the EU. When in 2011 they closed an investigation made by BRV against the FIA, the FIM, and a group of engine manufacturers, the case was dismissed on the grounds that the consumer was largely unaffected.
Whether or not the complaint made by Sauber and Force India will be seen to have an impact on the end user (fan) remains to be seen. But this week the Competition Commission opened an investigation into the International Skating Union (ISU) which could yet prove influential in relation to F1's current issues.
The ISU has been accused by some of its athletes of threatening lifetime bans from the sport for those who elect to compete in unauthorised events, and the EU has decided that the complaint merits further investigation.
"For many, sport is a passion - but it can also be a business," explained EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager. "We recognise and respect the role of international sports federations to set the rules of the game and to ensure proper governance of sport, notably in terms of the health and safety of the athletes and the integrity of competitions.
"However, in the case of the International Skating Union we will investigate if such rules are being abused to enforce a monopoly over the organisation of sporting events or otherwise restrict competition. ... The Commission has decided to pursue this investigation because it raises specific allegations of breaches of competition law at the international level rather than wider issues of internal governance or rule-making in a sport federation."
If the EU also decides that the Force India-Sauber complaint involves breaches of international competition law, they will be forced to act. But that is for the future. Particularly interesting is the background provided by the EU in their own press release relating to the ISU investigation (emphasis theirs).
"Sporting rules are subject to EU antitrust rules when the body setting the rules or the companies and persons affected by the rules are engaged in an economic activity," the commission explained. "On the basis of EU Court case law, sporting rules are compatible with EU law if they pursue a legitimate objective and if the restrictions that they create are inherent and proportionate to reaching this objective. This assessment can be performed by national courts, national competition authorities, particularly vis-à-vis national bodies, and by the Commission, especially in the case of practices at international level.
"Many disputes about sporting rules raise primarily issues related to governance of the sport, i.e. relations between different stakeholders belonging or being closely connected to the structure headed by sports federations. Such disputes can usually be best handled by national courts rather than by the European Commission."
Those involved in Formula One can hardly deny that the sport is also an economic activity. Whether or not the EU will choose to take an interest remains to be seen - the subject of the complaint isn't the sporting regulations. Neither they nor the technical regulations are the cause of F1's economic disparity.
What is concerning is the way in which the regulations are formulated, thanks to the F1 Strategy Group - an alleged "discussion-only" body that still has the power to veto changes to the rules previously ratified by the World Motor Sport Council. As Force India said in their statement confirming that the complaint had been filed, "the system of dividing revenues and determining how Formula One's rules are set is both unfair and unlawful" - and whether or not the EU agree is the crux of the matter at hand.
It could be argued that the teams currently upset by the division of F1's spoils had the option not to sign the Memoranda of Understanding that led to the current situation, but given that the teams were given a 'Sophie's choice' option of signing the MoU offered or leaving the sport, the EU is unlikely to put much stock in that as a defence.
While the Competition Commission have yet to formally open an investigation into the teams' complaint, recent EU decisions certainly make it look like there is a case to be made.