Dutch gambling monopoly wins another battle

The arguments about the legality of online gaming companies licensed in one EU country being allowed to operate in another rumbles on and the latest development concerns Ladbrokes who have been active since 2002 to appeal an injunction imposed by Dutch courts to prevent the bookmaker accepting bets from Dutch citizens. The case was referred to the European Courts of Justice and although a ruling is not expected until next year, the Advocate General gave an opinion that says that member states are allowed to have a single operator to run betting operations in their country (in other words a monopoly); the justification being to prevent fraud and protect consumers. The Advocate General’s opinion is not binding but is generally followed. Ladbrokes argue that the opinion does not correctly interpret EU law concerning incitement to gamble and John O’Reilly from Ladbrokes said “The opinion given by the Advocate General seems to assume that Dutch courts have already applied a full test of whether the introduction of new games and advertising by the Dutch monopoly constitutes an excessive enticement to gamble. However the Dutch courts have applied no such test”

In continuation he said ”We continue to believe that the ECJ should uphold principles of free and fair competition across borders as there is no logic in the fact that the Dutch monopoly could freely compete against us in the UK but we are prevented from accepting bets from any Dutch resident that finds us on the internet”.

We do not claim to be legal experts, we merely report the news, but the last comment does seem to make a lot of sense; state monopolies strike again!!