Denmark submitted in July a draft law to the European Commission with provisions to end the gambling monopoly and to liberalise the sports betting and online casino game market. After years of uncertainty, still-stand and legal disputes the Danish Government announced in April 2009 plans to end the gambling monopoly held by the State-owned organisation, Danske Spil, and to proceed with plans to liberalise parts of the gambling market...

Undoubtedly the last four month were the busiest ever in terms of striking developments in the Italian gaming market. Such a boost to an otherwise traditionally patchy and slow-paced regulatory process was due to the combined effect of tragic events (the earthquake that rocked a Central Italy historic city called L’Aquila last April) and the Treasury’s permanent hunt of fresh taxable revenues to heal the Budget deficit.

Although it has attracted comparatively little attention, the so-called Hartlauer-Decision of the European Court of Justice (case C-169/07 of 10th March 2009, Hartlauer Handelsgesellschaft MBH vs. Vienna State government) could have far-reaching consequences for the German gambling market. In this decision, the European Court of Justice, in the same composition as in the eagerly expected Liga Portugisa-Decision, opposed Advocate General Yves Bot.

Henrik Norsk Hoffman, an attorney with the law firm Lett in Denmark, answered questions by telephone Wednesday about the Danish Ministry of Taxation's announcement this week that sectors of the country's monopolistic gambling market will be liberalized.

Liberalizing gambling laws could help China survive the global economic downturn, sports officials said at the annual meeting of China’s parliament last week. Gambling was banned in mainland China after the Communist takeover in 1949, the exceptions being two state lotteries - one of them run by the sports ministry to fund the building of facilities.

On June 11, 2008, the French Government announced it would open its gaming markets as a result of pressure from the European Commission. The main features of the new liberalized gaming law have been announced. However, because the legal process to open the French gaming market is still at a political stage, the new law is still an evolving work in progress and amendments are quite probable.

The paragraphs below try to summarise the most relevant regulatory and commercial developments that dramatically affected the Italian gaming business over the last biennium. The 2006 year marked the beginning of a new era for the Italian gaming industry. In an effort to put an end to the thriving business of many foreign-based gambling sites that had long since been aggressively targeting and profitably servicing Italian players without holding an Italian licence...