Berlin. Am 23. März 2009 wurde erstmals der Europäische Dienstleistungspreis in der Akademie der Künste am Brandenburger Tor in Berlin verliehen. Laudator war der Bundesminister für Finanzen, Peer Steinbrück, der für den auslobenden Bundesverband der Dienstleistungswirtschaft (BDWi) den Preis in einer feierlichen Stunde an den Luxemburger Premierminister Jean-Claude Juncker übergab.

Der Geschäftsführer von Stanleybet International, John Whittaker, ist besorgt darüber, dass protektionistisch agierende EU-Mitgliedsstaaten die Europäische Kommission zunehmend an der Umsetzung von EU-Recht in der Glücksspiel- und Wettbranche hindern. Im Herzen Europas tobt ein erbitterter Kampf, der sich bislang der Aufmerksamkeit der meisten EU-Bürger entzogen hat.

Washington (Reuters) - A dispute over U.S. enforcement actions against European Union online gambling companies could be headed to the World Trade Organization soon, an European industry group said on Wednesday. "It looks very much as if this matter will ... be sent to the WTO at the end of the commission's investigation," Lode Van Den Hende, outside counsel for the Remote Gambling Association...

The four casinos in Italy are pressuring the government to delay implementation of the European Money Laundering Directive, due to go into effect on April 30. The measure requires casinos to identify all players who exchange money to play at the casinos, no matter how small the amount.

Brussels - The European Union launched an investigation on Monday into whether U.S. prosecutions of foreign online gambling companies were discriminatory, possibly paving the way for action at the World Trade Organisation. European online gambling companies, such as PartyGaming and bwin Interactive Entertainment, complained in December that the U.S. Justice Department crackdown had singled out foreign companies.

"The European Gaming and Betting Association calls on the European Commission to take swift action against the German Interstate Treaty on gaming," the lobby group said in a statement. The treaty, which came into force on January 1, bans online gaming and betting, except for horse races, in Germany. The EGBA said the ban "is in direct contravention of European Union law."

The Financial Times has reported a deal signed late last month between the United States and three fellow World Trade Organisation (WTO) nations seeking compensation in the wake of an online gambling dispute has been revealed as less meaningful than was first hoped. The dispute arose last year after the Americans lost a WTO dispute with Antigua and Barbuda over discriminatory legislation covering online gambling.

Statements released late last week by the United States and the European Union (EU) in the wake of a trade agreement that kept the two out of a World Trade Organization arbitration panel are creating confusion. The EU wanted compensation for America’s refusal to open up its online gambling market to foreign companies, a breach of WTO rules, under legislation passed in 1997. The White House agreed a plan last week along with and Japan and Canada that kept non-US gambling firms away in return for concessions.

The United States has reached a deal with the European Union, Japan and Canada to keep its Internet gambling market closed to foreign companies, but is continuing talks with India, Antigua and Barbuda, Macau and Costa Rica, US trade officials said. "We are pleased to confirm that the United States has reached agreement ... with Canada, the EU and Japan," Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative’s office, said in a statement several hours after the EU had announced details of the deal it had reached with Washington.

The United States must change an Internet gambling law that discriminates against European companies by preventing them from offering services in the U.S. market, the European Union’s top trade official said last week. "What we need to see is a change in U.S. legislation that removes that discrimination against EU operators," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told reporters before heading to Capitol Hill to discuss the issue with U.S. lawmakers.

Nach Mitteilung der EU-Kommission auf eine Anfrage der Bender & Menken Rechtsanwälte fand am 11.09.2007 eine Besprechung zwischen Dienststellen der EU-Kommission und sechs deutschen Vertretern (vier aus vier Bundesländern und zwei für die Bundesregierung) über den kommenden Glücksspielstaatsvertrag statt. Die Regierungsvertreter hätten gegenüber den Dienststellen der Kommission zum Ausdruck gebracht, dass die Länder nicht die Absicht verfolgten, ihre Ausführungsgesetze, die bis zum Ende des Jahres angenommen werden, zu ändern.

Europe and the United States are on the brink of a major trade dispute worth billions of pounds over Washington’s decision to renege on international trade commitments and protect its domestic gambling industry by preventing foreign companies from entering the lucrative market. The Remote Gambling Association (RGA), whose members include such household names as Labrokes, Skybet, William Hill and Paddy Power, said yesterday that the US action, if unchallenged, could lead to similar protectionist behaviour in other areas.