ECJ judgment in the Betfair and Ladbrokes cases: new exception to the applicability of the transparency principle in the gaming sector?

By Justin Franssen, attorney at law, and Frank Tolboom, legal assistant, VMW Taxand, Netherlands, article first published in European Gaming Lawyer magazine, Autumn issue 2010 p. 30 – 32.

On June 3, 2010, the ECJ rendered preliminary rulings in the Dutch betting cases Betfair/Minister of Justice (C-203/08) and Ladbrokes/De Lotto (C-258/08) addressing the compatibility of the Dutch gambling legislation with key principles of EU law.

As generally anticipated, the rulings seek alignment with the Bwin/Santa Casa case: member states have a significant margin of discretion with which to define the requisite level of protection and may therefore opt for a single-licence system, provided that the ensuing restrictive measures are objective, non-discriminatory and proportional. … Continue Reading

ECJ judgment in Carmen Media case causes legal chaos in Germany

Article by Dr. Wulf Hambach commissioned for and published in European Gaming Lawyer magazine, Autumn issue 2010.

The ECJ’s judgments on the Carmen Media case on September 8 have plunged the German gambling market into legal chaos, as they found that Germany’s regulations did not limit games of chance in a consistent and systematic manner.

The press coverage of the decision was widespread in Germany. The media suggested that the “end of the German gambling monopoly” seems to be inevitable. Examples of headlines and statements of the German press and media were…

“The German monopoly on lotteries and sports betting and other games of chances is inapplicable with immediate effect.” (Tagesspiegel, September 8, 2010).

“Sport betting is now allowed in Germany.” (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, September 9, 2010).

“The European Court of Justice stops the hypocrisy.” (Die Welt, September 9, 2010). “The Germany monopoly on gambling is illegitimate and – even transitionally – not applicable.” (Tagesspiegel, September 9, 2010).

… Continue Reading

Online gambling is to be liberalized. The new Dutch Cabinet, formed by Mark Rutte, believes that in time this will rake in hundreds of million Euros yearly.

by Dennis Naaktgeboren
THE HAGUE, THURSDAY –

Online gambling is to be liberalized. The new Dutch Cabinet, formed by Mark Rutte, believes that in time this will rake in hundreds of million Euros yearly.

This was today disclosed by sources in The Hague. The right-wing cabinet plans to sell or auction licences to interested companies. The income realised from this has been estimated at an annual figure of 100 million Euro, but ultimately could even be as high as 270 million.
Currently the provision of Internet gaming or lotteries in this country is illegal. Much to the disgruntlement of popular Internet casinos of Ladbrokes, Unibet, PokerStars and PartyPoker. The Justice Department deals severely with banks and credit card companies facilitating payment transactions for foreign gambling sites. … Continue Reading

InsidePoker Business: Focus On… Germany

Jake Pollard, published in InsidePoker Business, September/October 2010, edition 9, page 44

Schleswig-Holstein Pushes For German Gambling Re-Think

28 Sep, 2010 / GamblingCompliance / Daniel Macadam

Parliamentary discussions are underway in Schleswig-Holstein regarding online gambling reforms as the Lander looks to implement them quickly, before the controversial Interstate Treaty expires.

Its two ruling parties are working towards a revision of the treaty that would amend the current state lottery monopolies, open up the sports betting market and end the blanket ban on internet gambling.

They aim to present their lottery reforms to the 15 other German states, or Lander, by the end of this year, and their plans for the controlled liberalisation of sports betting and internet gambling by mid-2011. … Continue Reading