Monday’s announcement of a landmark deal between the 25 members of the European Union will be celebrated by many states with gambling monopolies. Although the agreement means the opening of the services market to cross-border competition without conforming to local regulation, casinos have been omitted. The new EU legislation, which followed nearly nine hours of negotiations, was approved by all countries other than Lithuania which abstained.

The original Bolkestein Directive was abandoned in February over fears of companies from countries with lower tax and fewer regulations being able to pay lower rates, and other companies relocating to Eastern Europe with consequent job losses in the west. The original services directive text was replaced by a general rule stating that member states cannot discriminate against foreign service providers. The services sector accounts for approximately 70% of the European economy.

The final agreement does not, however, cover all sectors of the service industry. Health care and social services, television and radio, port services, temporary employment agencies and casinos are all excluded. This will allow countries to maintain state monopolies in the gambling industry, although not all do so. Casino operators such as Betfair and Ladbrokes are already challenging countries such as Holland, Finland and Italy over EU policies on free market operations. (E-05.30.06)

© Copyright 2006 CasinoCompendium



>>> return to archives
>>> return to frontpage