At the end of June, Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "The Single Market is crucial to the recovery of the European economy. But for the Single Market to work effectively, its rules need to be correctly transposed, applied and enforced at national level, and national authorities need to cooperate more closely with each other.”

Many in the online gambling industry have long felt that the European Commission has been too tolerant of government monopolies flouting the rules when it comes to the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons within the internal market. The Commission has stated that the policy applies to online gambling services and yet countries such as France, Sweden, Holland and Germany have refused to comply.

The Commission has finally decided to refer countries with restrictive online casino gambling legislation to the European Court of Justice. France has changed some of its policies in order to comply with Commission rules but legislation in Belgium is now under scrutiny. New online gambling laws have been found in contravention as criminal sanctions can be imposed against foreign internet gambling countries licensed in other EU states. The Belgian law also stipulates that gambling companies offering online services in Belgium must be established in Belgium and limits the number of available licences.

So far the Belgian authorities have not indicated a desire to negotiate the terms for new legislation that would comply with EU rules. Some countries contravening the rules believe that their argument that state monopolies protect their citizens will hold sway in the European Court of Justice, and they will be able to retain their lucrative online gambling businesses free from competition.
(E-07.06.09)

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