Transcript The European Commission and national gambling monopolies

The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
European Legal Update, October 5th 2006
Thibault Verbiest
Attorney at law
ULYS law firm
The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
• First attempt to regulate gambling: services
directive
 Exclusion from the COP only
 Final version: complete exclusion from directive
• Article 1.5 e-commerce Directive excludes games
“which involve wagering a stake with monetary
value in games of chance, including lotteries and
betting transactions” from its scope of application.
• At the moment no Community directive regulates
gambling
The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
• Increase in gambling complaints for the last
couple of years based on article 49 EC Treaty and
Gambelli case-law
• January 2005: appoints Swiss Institute to conduct
study on impact of laws regulating gambling
services on smooth functioning of the Internal
Market
• Draft report June 2006: unsatisfactory ►unlikely
basis for Community act
The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
• Until last April Commission did not initiate
any infringement proceedings
• April 2006: opening of infringement
proceedings against seven member states
Limited to sports betting market
Does not touch upon existence of
monopolies as such but examines
consistency of gambling policy
The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
• Why did the Commission decide to act?
• National developments such as
 Germany’s constitutional court ruling March 2006
 Italy’s decision to block gambling sites:
notification had been sent to Italy but legislation
remained in place
• Exclusion of gambling from Services directive
• Intense lobbying by private operators
The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
• Recent developments in France (Bwin)
• Commission infringement meeting October 12th
could add eight new Member States to the list,
including France
• Other complaint lodged at DG Competition by
main body representing casino sector based on
abuse of dominant position
• Commission said it would assess the French
“case” in the light of both complaints
The European Commission and
national gambling monopolies
• Where from here?
 De facto de regulation process taking place at
national level : Germany, Italy, Belgium
 Real push comes from market
 Commission adopts rather “defensive” stance and
follows evolution at national level before acting
• De regulation will take another two to five years
 Community act not on the agenda for the
moment: de facto deregulation likely to precede a
Community act
Thank you for your attention
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