The Remote Gambling Association has written to the European Commissioner to demand that he acts to prevent anti-competitive reforms to Greek gambling law. The opening of the Greek online gambling market is under threat from amendments which will result in OPAP being gifted an illegal online monopoly against European Union law.

After the ECJ's decision in case C-46/08 Carmen Media, the German gambling monopoly has come to an end. In its decision given today, the ECJ makes it clear that the Verwaltungsgericht (Administrative Court) of Schleswig, in its resolution of 30 January 2008 referring the case for a preliminary ruling, correctly reached the conclusion that the German gambling regulation is not in compliance with Union law (see press release dated 31 January 2008).

Austrian legislation establishes a State monopoly over games of chance, with the effect that the right to organise and operate games of chance is, in principle, reserved to the State. The federal law in force is intended, in particular, to regulate games of chance with a view to their supervision and to enable the State to derive the maximum amount of revenue from them. The Federal Minister for Finance is permitted to grant a total of 12 concessions entitling their holders to organise and operate gaming establishments.

In Germany, jurisdiction over gambling is divided between the federal State and the Länder. In most of the Länder, there is a regional monopoly for the organisation of sporting bets and lotteries, while the organisation of bets on horse racing and the operation of gaming machines and casinos are entrusted to duly-authorised private operators.

The original proceeding in Austria concerns a criminal procedure against Mr. Engelmann (a German citizen) who operated casino games in the Austrian city Linz without disposing of a concession delivered by the Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF). The Court had expressed its doubts as to the conformity of the Austrian gaming monopoly with Community law and, in consequence, submitted three preliminary questions to the European Court of Justice:

Kiel/Germany – According to the coalition agreement between the Christian-Democratic Party (CDU) and the Liberal Party (FDP), published on 17 October 2009, Schleswig-Holstein, one of the 16 German states (Länder), will cancel the Interstate Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspielstaatvertrag) and thereby end the state monopoly on gambling. According to Jürgen Koppelin, leader of the Liberal Party Schleswig-Holstein, other German states might follow the example of Schleswig-Holstein. If the Germans states can not agree on a new uniform regulation, CDU and FDF announced to consider a licensing system.

The Administrative Court of Mainz, Germany, noted yet again constitutional deficits of the state’s sports betting monopoly. In the case at hand, the judges therefore granted exemption from judicial execution to the defendant (order of 4 September 2009, file number: 6 L 770/09.MZ). Thus the defendent, represented by Arendts Anwälte, may continue to collect and forward offers of sports bets to a bookmaker, licensed in the EU member state Austria.

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.

(Bloomberg) - Germany’s sports-betting monopoly was upheld in an interim ruling by the country’s top constitutional court, delivering a blow to online gambling companies that are seeking to overturn the restrictions. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe rejected a request for an emergency ruling...

State-owned Holland Casino, which has a monopoly on the Dutch casino market, wants to invest ‘hundreds of millions of euros’ over the coming 10 years, says company director Dick Flink in an interview with Monday’s Financieele Dagblad. According to the paper, 2008 was a difficult year for Holland Casino. Flink said the ban on smoking alone cost the firm EUR 35m in lost income...

Ladbrokes has said it will continue its fight to legally provide sports betting services in Norway as it launched an appeal against the rejection of its Norwegian sports betting license application. The appeal comes after the Oslo City Court ruled last month that Ladbrokes was not allowed to offer its gambling services in competition with the Norwegian monopoly.

In Norway, the District Court of Oslo has thrown out a bid from British bookmaker Ladbrokes that would have challenged the nation’s online gambling monopoly. Harrow-based Ladbrokes launched legal proceedings against the Scandinavian nation in 2004 after it was refused a gaming license. It claimed that Norway’s move beached the Treaty of Rome, European Commission directives and agreements under the European Free Trade Association.