After numerous decisions on sports betting the European Court of Justice may now deal with the admissibility of a casino monopoly. The Austrian County Court of Linz (Landesgericht Linz) recently referred several fundamental questions for preliminary ruling to the ECJ (Case no. C-64/08 - Engelmann). The ECJ's decision could well throw into disarray the current licensing system for casinos in Austria and could be of fundamental importance for other Member States as well. The County Court of Linz referred the following questions for preliminary ruling:

As already reported in German Gaming Law updated no. 93, the Administrative Court of Schleswig (Schleswig-Holsteinisches Verwaltungsgericht) raised considerable doubts as to the conformity of the new Interstate Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag) with EU law and referred a case regarding the state monopoly on sports betting and gambling to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The 19 page reference for a preliminary ruling, including the four questions submitted to the ECJ, was recently published (decision of 30 January 2008, file no. 12 A 102/06).