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EC Gives France & Greece More Time to Reply to Official EU Gambling QueriesThu, Aug 30th, 2007 @ 12:00am France and Greece received a two month extension to reply to official steps taken by the European Commission (EC) over alleged protectionist behavior creating barriers to foreign sports betting, online poker and gambling firms, a European Union executive said on Tuesday. The EC, an executive arm of the European Union (EU), has been targeting member nations whose national gaming regulations are contrary to higher level EU laws that permit companies licensed anywhere in the EU to freely move goods and services across EU state borders (Article 49 of the EC Treaty). Sports betting, gambling and/or online gambling are state-owned monopolies in many EU countries, generating large amounts of revenue for governments. To protect that revenue, governments have created roadblocks to thwart attempts by private-sector rivals to enter or grab a share of the lucrative business. EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has said that there is no agreement among EU states to adopt pan-EU rules on gaming due to a wide range of views. However, McCreevy has repeatedly said that he intends to use his legal powers to stop unjustified restrictions on the free movement of services within the EU bloc. WARNINGS ISSUED In June, the EC had issued final warnings called 'Reasoned Opinions' to France and Sweden after rejecting their explanations for their protectionist gambling monopolies. If corrective action is not taken, the countries will be sued by the Commission in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) (click here for related article).
At that time it also gave Greece an initial warning, called a Letter of Formal Notice, saying that it too was at risk over its protectionist national legislation restricting the supply of sports betting services (click here for related article). The Greek betting monopoly OPAP is a public listed company and one of Europe's biggest betting firms. The EC requested information from Greece about criminal proceedings against Greek market makers. OCT 29 IS NEW DEADLINE "The deadline for Greece and for France is now 29 October," said Oliver Drewes, a spokesman for McCreevy, on Tuesday. "We have not seen anything from Sweden so far but they did not ask for an extension so we assume it's on its way," Drewes said. HOW EC DEALS WITH GAMBLING VIOLATIONS The EC can take three distinct steps to deal with countries they think are breaking the higher EU law (defined under Article 226 of the Treaty on European Union): CHANGE IN FRANCE? Drewes did note that the situation in France had changed since a court ruling last month was favorable to EU law. France's top court overturned a ruling that banned a Maltese firm, Zeturf, from offering online horse race betting in France, adding to pressure from Brussels for France to end the state's lucrative monopoly (click here for related article). Drewes also said they had good contact with Greek authorities. Read Related Articles:
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