The bwin group was first founded in 1999 in Gibraltar as Simon Bold (Gibraltar) Ltd and in 2001 was taken over by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, publicly listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. Bwin International Ltd runs the operational activities of the group from Gibraltar under a licence issued there. The company’s name is highly visible on football shirts around Europe; bwin sponsors FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Werder Bremen and the bwinLIGA in Portugal.

Last Friday co-chief executives of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG were detained by French authorities, accused of violating local betting laws. The two were in France to unveil a deal with AS Monaco in the French soccer league. Yesterday afternoon, Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger were released on bail of €300,000 by the examination magistrate at a court in Nanterre. In its press release bwin assumes that trading of company shares in Vienna will restart today. The company is to sue the French state for human rights restrictions and not respecting EU law.

In Brussels yesterday the European Commission indicated that it is ready to target more EU states that appear to be stifling competition in the betting sector. The Commission has already named seven member states under investigation – Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. The EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy must ensure that state bans on gambling services are necessary and not discriminatory.

The European Union failed to get gambling included in the new Services Directive and there are many claims against state monopolies going through the EU courts. As far back as 1999 one court pointed out “the fact that the games in issue are not totally prohibited is not enough to show that the national legislation is not in reality intended to achieve the public-interest objectives at which it is purportedly aimed.”

The Advocate General at that time observed “such a limitation is acceptable only if it reflects a concern to bring about a genuine diminution in gambling opportunities and if the financing of social activities through a levy on the proceeds of authorised games constitutes only an incidental beneficial consequence and not the real justification for the restrictive policy adopted.”

Gambling within the European Union is still a subject that is far from being resolved. Too many countries rely on funding from state monopolies and use issues such as money laundering and problem gambling control to argue that competition laws should not apply to the provision of gambling services. Since April the Commission has received around 50 new complaints plus an equal number of potential cases. McCreevy has said he is not seeking uncontrolled liberalisation of the gaming market but that member states’ actions must be compatible with Community law on freedom of services. (E-09.19.06)

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