Paul Kirby EU reporter, BBC News

Italian fans protested after the death of Gabriele Sandri

The EU Justice Commissioner, Franco Frattini, has come out in favour of a European police force to protect sport.

He said he wanted specialised units to be ready to intervene at short notice at international sports events.

The idea was put to a conference on football violence by the president of European football's governing body Uefa, Michel Platini.

Earlier this month, a football fan was shot dead in Italy, as police tried to stop violence between rival fans.

Gabriele Sandri, 26, had been on his way to see Lazio play Inter Milan when he was shot in his car at a motorway service station.

But the conference in Brussels was organised well before his death. Last February, an Italian police officer was killed during rioting at a derby match in Sicily.

Provocative plan

Uefa has been calling for a Europe-wide response to the problem for some time.

This is, I would say, a step towards the creation one day of a true European police for sport EU Justice Commissioner, Franco Frattini, as Michel Platini looks on

Mr Platini said that, as violence was society's problem and football was at the centre of people's social lives, it was natural that perpetrators of violence would try to take over the game.

"We must therefore act to protect sport and give judges the means to enforce the law," he said.

He had originally floated the proposal for a European force in February "somewhat provocatively" but it had gradually taken off: Mr Frattini "jumped on this idea and I thank him for making it happen."

Aspiration

The justice commissioner sees the concept of a Europe-wide force as an aspiration rather than a likely event, and he is fully aware that the idea is not going to go down well in many of the EU's 27 member states.

What he wants, initially, is "a harmonised standard of training in sport" for stewards and police, which would be co-ordinated by the European law enforcement agency, Europol, in The Hague and funded by the EU.

Among the proposals are:

"This is exactly the step toward the creation on day, of a true European police for sports," Mr Frattini said. In other words, his ultimate goal would be a kind of rapid reaction force for international football.

But he will have his work cut out to persuade EU governments to fund it.

UK scepticism

Although rapid reaction teams do already exist for issues of immigration, he has already run into scepticism in Britain over a dedicated European sport force.

The UK Home Office has praised the plans for multinational training involving police commanders, intelligence officers and "national football information point personnel".

But, it believes it should not stray beyond national sovereignty and it says that the football experts involved in the Brussels conference were unanimous that "supranational institutions are not the way forward".

British benefit

The differences between national governments and Mr Frattini may well be small, as British clubs in particular are hoping for improvements in security in and around stadiums.

Their supporters would benefit from Uefa's plans to scrap fencing and replace riot police with stewards at every European ground.

Earlier this year, Manchester United fans were charged and beaten by riot police in Italy. They also complained of the dangers of fencing in France during a Champions League tie against Lille.