State gambling monopolies were on a winning streak yesterday. In The Netherlands the Council of State refused a request for an operating licence for a casino in Bergen by a French company, following a long-running legal battle. Admitting that the ruling was contrary to EU laws, the Council has allowed the Holland Casinos’ state-run monopoly to continue ‘in the public interest.’ This will be bad news for Harrah’s Entertainment, which has also applied for a casino licence for a project in Maastricht.

In Norway – not a member of the European Union, but a member of the 4-country European Free Trade Association – an EFTA tribunal has also decided that the State can maintain its gambling monopoly to control problem gambling. The tribunal ruled that Norway’s actions did not violate the trade agreement. Last year the Minister of Culture announced that if the government’s Norsk Tipping gaming company monopoly on gambling machines was denied in the European courts, then the government would impose a permanent ban.

Gambling machine licences in Norway expire in July and will not be renewed. The Norwegian gaming association, which won an earlier court ruling but lost on appeal, plans to take the battle to the Supreme Court. It will argue that members’ gambling machines being replaced by those run by Norsk Tipping will not help solve the issue of problem gamblers, which the government claims is a national health burden.

The Netherlands maintains its state monopoly on the grounds that it protects the consumer, reduces gambling and combats illegality and criminality. The European Commission may not see it that way, and has already voiced concerns about competition laws being broken by nations that restrict their gambling markets. Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy and Sweden are all likely to face challenges to their gambling policies in the European courts. (E-03.15.07)

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