Share This Article
The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice issued its opinion on the compliance with the European principle of the freedom to provide services of the current Dutch gaming license system which prescribes:
- that it is prohibited to organise or promote gambling without having obtained a licence for that purpose; and
- that only one provider for each category of game may receive a licence.
The dispute arose from 2 cases involving Betfair and Ladbrokes against the current Dutch gaming licensees De Lotto and SGR.
The Advocate General held that:
“the Court has consistently held that the Member States may restrict the organisation and exploitation of gaming in their territory in order to protect consumers [and …] that a Member State may legitimately grant a single operator the right to operate betting and gaming”
Also, in relation to the possibility under the EU principle of freedom to provide services to limit the offer by an online operator licensed in an European Member State to offer its games in another Member State, the Advocate General held that:
“in accordance with the position adopted by the Court in Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional and Bwin International, the principle of mutual recognition does not apply to a licence to offer games on the Internet”
Finally, the Advocate General held:
the EU principle of freedom to provide services “precludes the extension of a single authorised operator’s licence without competitive tendering unless such extension addresses an essential interest […] or an overriding requirement in the public interest as laid down in the case-law and unless it conforms to the principle of proportionality. It is for the national court to determine whether that is the case”.
The opinion of the Advocate General is not binding for the European Court of Justice, but it shows that after the Bwin Case, European authorities are adopting a very conservative approach which – as stressed in a previous post – are likely to have negative consequences for gaming operators.
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)
