According to an article in the newspaper International Herald Tribune, the European Commission plans to decide within weeks whether to step up legal action against Germany over that country's recent move to ban online gambling. The German law came into effect on Jan. 1, banning Web-based betting, with the exception of wagers on horseracing, and restricting other forms of gambling to state-run operators.
The European Gaming & Betting Association urged the commission to take action against the German legislation, saying it violated EU rules. "The prohibitions in the law are very strict and drastic," said Sigrid Ligné, secretary general of the association. "We have a strong feeling that it is incompatible with EU law and that the commission will act on our complaint."
Oliver Drewes, a spokesman for the EU internal markets commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said that the commission would decide, perhaps by the end of the month, whether to take such action. The commission already warned Germany last year that it thought the law ran counter to EU regulations. The next step, Drewes said, would be a "reasoned opinion" detailing the commission's objections; Germany would then have two months to respond. Then the commission could take the matter to the European Court of Justice.
Under EU law, governments are allowed to legislate against gambling if, for instance, they are concerned about addiction. But McCreevy has objected to what the commission sees as efforts to protect lucrative state-owned gambling providers from private-sector competition. "The commission does not believe this piece of legislation is in line with community law," Drewes said.
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