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| | | February 28 - This week the Brussels-based European Commission (EC) gave Holland
and Greece a 'final warning', threatening court action against the two European
Union (EU) member countries unless they remove restrictions on their respective
domestic gambling markets.
The EC gave both countries just two months to respond adequately with regards to
their restrictions. Should they fail to do so, both countries could end up
facing the European Union's top court, the European Court of Justice, based in
Luxembourg.
The EC's main objections involve Holland's restraints on online sports betting,
which is applied to its foreign competitors, and Greece's restrictions on
gambling and advertising, both of which do not fall within the EC fair trade
rules and regulations.
Charlie McCreevy, EU internal market commissioner, is currently overseeing legal
action against roughly 10 of the EU's 27 member states. His objective is to
'crack down' on those EU states that have 'legislative hurdles' in place to
prevent foreign gambling competition.
Said McCreevy, 'If EU countries wish to ban gambling outright that is their own
business. However, what they may not do is discriminate against legally
authorized gambling operations from their fellow EU member states.'
The EC strong stance in such matters has been well received by the European
online gambling community.
A senior executive from a leading UK-based sportsbook was quoted as saying that
the decision (to threaten court action against Greece and Holland) is 'another
blow to member states who do not wish to play their part'.
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