EU still assembling cases against state monopolies

McCreevy still assembling cases against state monopolies

The wheels of the European Union commission on monopolistic state bans against online gambling companies continue to grind slowly but surely, according to the latest updates from the Commission.

Charles McCreevy, the EU commissioner overseeing the complaints against countries like Denmark, Germany, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Hungary and Finland is still assembling evidence proving the complaints against the countries, which he warned earlier this year. It is understood that there have been complaints against a further eight countries since then.

Assuming sufficient evidence can be adduced, the seven countries could be appearing in the European Court of Justice as early as next (October) month. The complaints against them apparently centre on violation of the EU laws that require member states to respect the principles of free and fair competition for all EU firms unless there are valid social concerns - a tough defence to claim when the state itself is running gambling businesses as a monopoly.

The dispute has grown in intensity as international gambling groups domiciled in the EU try to assert the right to offer online gambling services to residents of EU countries, and those countries claim sovereignty and the authority to stop them. Lucrative state monopolies mean that the EU commissioners have had to argue against politicians in both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, where petitions to allow trans-border competition have been firmly rejected.