Swedish and Austrian cases to be heard in ECJ in January

The European Court of Justice has confirmed that it will examine Austrian and Swedish rules on online gambling in the New Year on 14 January is separate oral hearings. The Austrian case - number C-64/08 - also relates to the freedom to provide services under European law, and in particular Articles 43 and 49 of the EC Treaty. The case was referred to the ECJ by the Austrian Court in Linz, who sought clarification on whether the country's two current gambling licensing regimes are in violation of the EU's competition legislation. If that is the case, then the national court wants to know if current Austrian gambling legislation can be legitimately used to exclude gambling operators based in other Member States.

Advocate General of ECJ to deliver opinion on German gambling cases in March 2010

An Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will deliver an advisory opinion on the validity of Germany's state gambling monopolies on 3 March 2010, following oral hearings on 7 and 8 December at the ECJ that examined seven cases referred to the ECJ by German courts. When Italian Advocate General Mengozzi delivers his opinion to the ECJ in March, legally it is non-binding but it is usual for the judges to consider this opinion when preparing their own ruling. It is expected that the final verdict will be delivered sometime in the second half of 2010.

Advocate General delivers opinion in favour of Dutch state

Advocate General Yves Bot of the European Court of Justice has delivered his opinion on the cases involving Betfair, Ladbrokes and the Dutch monopoly of De Lotto. His opinion is in favour of Member States maintaining a monopoly on gambling services and their right to grant licences to one single operator, as a means to protect consumers from fraud, crime and gambling addiction. In his very lengthy opinion, Advocate General Bot stated that free competition in the EU promotes the harmonious development of economic activities and employment. However, he then added that these advantages do not apply to the gambling sector as competition among gambling operators will push consumers into spending more than they can afford and may induce an addiction to gambling. The opinion of Advocate General Bot is non-binding but it usually indicates the way in which the ECJ will deliver its final verdict. For the Bwin/Santa Casa Portuguese case, which was concluded in September, his opinion at the time favoured the Portuguese monopoly and he supported Members States maintaining exclusive access to their gambling markets. The eventual verdict obviously upheld the same view as the Advocate General.

Proposed gambling intergroup loses political momentum

The proposed European Parliament Intergroup on gambling, backed by key MEPs such as Christel Schaldemose (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Denmark) and Mario Mauro (European People's Party, Italy) has not gathered the sufficient amount of backing from other politicians, therefore it will not be able to go ahead. The EUROMAT secretariat understands that now that the intergroup is shelved, supportive MEPs will continue with a ‘plan B', in which they intend to hold a gambling related event every three months or so which will likely focus on the promotion of responsible gambling and corporate social responsibility. The EUROMAT secretariat will maintain contact with the offices of MEPs Schaldemose and Mauro and will keep the membership up to date on any upcoming gambling-related events when they have been confirmed.

Swedish Presidency presents gambling report to Competitiveness Council

On 4 December, the Swedish Presidency of the European Council presented its Progress Report on the Legal framework for Gambling and Betting in the Member States of the European Union to various Ministers representing the Member States Ministers at the Competitiveness Council.

On the positive side, the progress report reaffirmed the principle of subsidiarity and of Member States being in control of their own gambling market jurisdictions, which is also one of the main principles of EUROMAT.  However, the report unfairly focussed on the link between gaming machines and problem gambling and failed to mention the weak levels of consumer protection applied by the remote gambling sector. It did not recognise the private sector initiatives that have been put in place to protect consumers, nor the high levels of taxes that are paid by land-based private gambling operators.

During the meeting, ministers from Malta and the UK tabled a joint minute statement which expressed concerns over the progress report. They requested no further discussion within the Council on gambling as the European Commission has shown no intention to legislate on gambling at the EU level.

In response to the report, EUROMAT issued a press release stating that the progress report was inaccurate and incomplete. The press release was quoted in an article by Agence Europe, one of Europe's lead news agencies on public affairs, and which quoted EUROMAT's President Annette Kok and portrayed our association in a positive light.

EUROMAT meets Spanish Presidency representatives in Brussels

On 1 December 2009, a EUROMAT delegation met with Mr. Jose-Luis Fernandez Sanz of the Spanish Permanent Representation to the EU to discuss the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the EU.

Mr. Fernandez explained that the Spanish Presidency will be likely to continue the same work started under the French Presidency in 2008 but will maintain a low profile. In fact Spain intends to hold the minimum number of meetings for a Council working party, which is two. The Council Working Party on Gambling and Betting will meet on 5 March and 5 May 2010. The Spanish Presidency has indicated that it will focus its attention on thefight against illegal provision of gambling services particularly, blocking of Internet Service provision and Financial transaction blocking. The Spanish Presidency will then draft a progress report which is expected to be presented to the Competitiveness Council on 26 May 2010.

The Belgian government, next in line after Spain, to hold the Presidency of the EU from July to December 2010, is quite keen on discussing gambling issues and has asked the Spanish presidency to continue with the work. On the Swedish Presidency report, the Spanish presidency considers it merely a national report with no real power, as it does not set out any Council conclusions.