SWEDISH NEWSPAPERS GET THEIR DAY IN COURT

8 February 2008

State gambling monopoly row spills over into the media


Aggressive attempts to protect the Swedish state gambling monopoly by interfering in newspaper advertising initiatives will soon see objections by leading Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen being heard in the country's Court of Appeal following a ruling by the Supreme Court.

The Surpeme Court has granted the newspapers the right to appeal criminal prosecutions for accepting advertisements from foreign companies...and the decision will require the Swedish Court of Appeal to assess the compatibility of Swedish laws on gaming with several judgements already handed down by the European Commission and the European Court of Justice.
The issue surfaced in public last month (see previous InfoPowa report) following an open and well publicised letter from the editors of the publications concerned which urged European Commissioner for compliance Charlie McCreevy to take action against the state gambling monopoly.

The editors claimed that Swedish non-compliance with the EU principle of free movement of trade and services between EU member nations had resulted in state interference and obstacles to legitimate online gambling advertisements in their newspapers.

Sweden is already under the European Commission microscope over its protectionist gambling policies, with the compliance authorities steadily ratcheting up the pressure for a more open gambling industry vis-a-vis companies in other EU member nations.

Later in the week the secretary general of the European Gambling and Betting Association, Sigrid Ligné said the mood across the Europe was changing. “European national courts are now much more cautious in their rulings and are holding back on gambling-related decisions to make sure they are in line with EU law,” she explained.

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