EU EXCLUSIVE SITES ARE IN EC'S CROSS HAIRS
23 March 2007
Push to open the international betting market
throughout 27 EU nations
Denmark, Finland, Hungary and Sweden could be priority
targets for the European Commission as it moves to open
up the cross-border exchange of trade and services in
terms of the EU charter with more confidence following
the recent European Court of Justice finding in the
Placanica case.
Reuters reported this week that the European Commission
will step up legal action against the four countries in
a bid to open the betting market across the 27-nation
European Union.
"The countries are Denmark, Finland, Hungary and
Sweden," an unnamed source told Reuters, adding that the
Commission was also "making final enquiries" in regard
to Germany and the Netherlands.
"It represents a final warning before the countries are
taken to the European Court of Justice, which can fine
states that fail to change their law to conform with EU
rules," the Reuters report concluded.
In the Placanica case against the Italian government,
the European Court of Justice grand chamber of judgement
ruled in favour of the free movement of trade and
services among European Union nations, addressing the
issue of certain states monopolising gambling by
excluding private or foreign open competition.
The case is seen as pivotal on the vexing question of
whether member states of the European Union have the
right to exclude betting companies from other EU states
from offering their services to gamblers in countries
where the state often holds a lucrative monopoly on
gambling. And where states claim to prohibit competition
for the moral protection of their citizens, they cannot
then discriminate by reaping the rewards of state-monopolised
gambling
In the Placanica case, Massimiliano Placanica and two
other bet shop operators who allowed people to place
online bets with the UK's Stanley Leisure plc had faced
criminal charges under Italian law because Stanley
didn't have a local gaming license.
An 11-judge panel of the European Court in Luxembourg
ruled: "The Italian criminal penalties for the
collecting of bets by intermediaries acting on behalf of
foreign companies are contrary to EU rules."
Predicting the likely result of the case may have been
the impetus for the Italians to do an abrupt about-face,
offering licensing for online gambling operations rather
than trying to ban same late last year.
The Court's finding establishes once and for all that
national licensing procedures cannot be applied in a de
facto discriminatory manner against foreign gaming
operators when it comes to cross border provision of
gambling services.
Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa
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