Press relesa of EGBA
Today’s adoption of an own initiative report by the European Parliament on “The integrity of online gambling” is overshadowed by the support of a wide range of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to an alternative report.
The alternative report was backed by MEPs representing at least 9 Member States and the three main European political parties. It seeks to approach online gaming and betting in a more practical way, in line with the cross-border nature of the sector and taking into consideration both the challenges and opportunities offered in this area by the Internet technology.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) welcomes this alternative report, which reflects an important move within the European Parliament towards more workable solutions.
The confusing majority report lead by Danish socialist MEP Schaldemose, indeed calls on the Commission to “carry out studies and make appropriate proposals” while insisting at the same time on “the Member States right to regulate (the online gaming sector) in accordance with their traditions and cultures”. This report being split between a national or a community approach, therefore fails to make any clear recommendation on actions to be taken.
What is clear however is that no harmonised EU legislation is foreseeable in the near future due to lack of political will of both Member States and the European Parliament. This was first evidenced by the discussions within the Council initiated recently by the French Presidency and now by clear divisions amongst MEPs expressed in the context of the own initiative report.
So what’s next?
The establishment of a European Code of Conduct, supported by the alternative report, currently appears as the best practical option in the near future to ensure that EU licensed operators offering their services cross-border abide throughout the EU to a common and consistent set of responsible standards.
Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA said “Today’s vote shows that we cannot expect an EU harmonised legislation to be adopted in the near future. This clearly means that it is the rules of the Treaty and the case law of the Court of Justice that continue to apply and that will prevail for our sector in the years to come”.
The only tangible EU initiatives in the pipeline to enforce the right of EU operators to a non-discriminatory market access are the current infringements which were launchedby the Commission some years ago. These infringements need now urgently to be brought to the next level with all non-cooperative Member States including Germany, Sweden or Denmark.
10 March 2009
06 March 2009
With the Acquisition of Expekt and Bet-at-home, French Group MANGAS GAMING Enters the Top 5 Online Sports Betting Players in Europe
press release of MANGAS GAMING
Paris - MANGAS GAMING, French leading group in online gaming and sports betting, which operates Betclic, active in France and Southern Europe, announces the two following transactions:
- The acquisition of all the operations of Expekt, a major
online sports betting company, addressing primarily the Scandinavian
and Northern European markets. Expekt is also a major player in online
poker.
- The acquisition of a controlling stake in Bet-at-home from
its founders. Bet-at-home, a Frankfort listed company, is an online
betting and gaming operator mainly present in Central and Eastern
Europe. A public offer will be launched shortly to acquire the shares
held by Bet-at-Home's minority shareholders.
Both transactions benefit from the full support of the management of the acquired companies.
With these acquisitions, MANGAS GAMING, enters the top 5 online sports betting operators in Europe, with gross gaming revenues amounting to around 200 million euros in 2009, over 4 million registered clients and a staff of about 500 people.
Present in more than 25 countries, the group now benefits from a balanced breakdown of its activities over continental Europe while maintaining a strong focus on local market expertise, and offers its services through websites in 24 different languages.
MANGAS GAMING, managed by Isabelle Parize, plans to pursue its pan-European development in a fast-growing industry.
Both transactions, which remain subject to customary regulatory approvals, will be financed through the existing resources of MANGAS GAMING, which is co-controlled by Financiere Lov, Stephane Courbit's patrimonial holding company, and Societe des Bains de Mer (SBM).
Lazard acted as exclusive financial adviser to MANGAS GAMING in these transactions.
Paris - MANGAS GAMING, French leading group in online gaming and sports betting, which operates Betclic, active in France and Southern Europe, announces the two following transactions:
- The acquisition of all the operations of Expekt, a major
online sports betting company, addressing primarily the Scandinavian
and Northern European markets. Expekt is also a major player in online
poker.
- The acquisition of a controlling stake in Bet-at-home from
its founders. Bet-at-home, a Frankfort listed company, is an online
betting and gaming operator mainly present in Central and Eastern
Europe. A public offer will be launched shortly to acquire the shares
held by Bet-at-Home's minority shareholders.
Both transactions benefit from the full support of the management of the acquired companies.
With these acquisitions, MANGAS GAMING, enters the top 5 online sports betting operators in Europe, with gross gaming revenues amounting to around 200 million euros in 2009, over 4 million registered clients and a staff of about 500 people.
Present in more than 25 countries, the group now benefits from a balanced breakdown of its activities over continental Europe while maintaining a strong focus on local market expertise, and offers its services through websites in 24 different languages.
MANGAS GAMING, managed by Isabelle Parize, plans to pursue its pan-European development in a fast-growing industry.
Both transactions, which remain subject to customary regulatory approvals, will be financed through the existing resources of MANGAS GAMING, which is co-controlled by Financiere Lov, Stephane Courbit's patrimonial holding company, and Societe des Bains de Mer (SBM).
Lazard acted as exclusive financial adviser to MANGAS GAMING in these transactions.
04 March 2009
Referral to ECJ with regard to the jurisdiction for claims against bookmakers
Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Cour d'appel de Liège (Belgium) lodged on 29 December 2008 - Real Madrid Football Club, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez Blanco, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, Luis Filipe Madeira Caeiro, Futebol Club Do Porto S.A.D., Victor Baia, Ricardo Costa, Diego Ribas da Cunha, P.S.V. N.V., Imari BV, Juventus Football Club SPA v Sporting Exchange Ltd, William Hill Credit Limited, Victor Chandler (International) Ltd, BWIN International Ltd (Betandwin), Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Ltd, Ladbroke Belgium S.A., Internet Opportunity Entertainment Ltd, Global Entertainment Ltd (Unibet)
(Case C-584/08)
Language of the case: French
Referring court
Cour d'appel de Liège
Parties to the main proceedings
Appellants: Real Madrid Football Club, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez Blanco, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, Luis Filipe Madeira Caeiro, Futebol Club Do Porto S.A.D., Victor Baia, Ricardo Costa, Diego Ribas da Cunha, P.S.V. N.V., Imari BV, Juventus Football Club SPA
Respondents: Sporting Exchange Ltd, William Hill Credit Limited, Victor Chandler (International) Ltd, BWIN International Ltd (Betandwin), Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Ltd, Ladbroke Belgium S.A., Internet Opportunity Entertainment Ltd, Global Entertainment Ltd (Unibet)
Questions referred
The questions relate to the interpretation to be given, in the specific field of the internet, to Article 5(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. 1
Where, as in the present case, the alleged harm is caused by websites and
(a) none of the companies being sued, which run the websites in question, has its company seat in Belgium,
(b) none of the websites in question is hosted in Belgium,
(c) none of the claimants is domiciled in Belgium,
(d) the betting websites are available to Belgian internet users, who can place their bets on those sites, to the same extent as they are available to internet users in other contracting States since they are '.com' websites which have the purpose of extending their market to the whole of Europe, and they do not have the extension '.be' which is specific to Belgium,
(e) those websites are available in a number of languages without the two most commonly used languages in Belgium always being among them,
(f) those websites offer, inter alia, bets on Belgian matches, in the same way as for foreign championships,
(g) the use of a particular technology or canvassing technique aimed at the Belgian public has not been proved,
(h) the number of bets placed by the Belgian public is entirely marginal in comparison with the total number of bets taken by those sites, since, according to the figures submitted by the bookmaking companies for 2005, which were not disputed, all the Belgian betting on football matches represents less than 0.25% of the bets taken on the websites 'bwin.com', 'willhill.com', 'betfair.com', 'ladbrokes.com', 'sportingbet', and 'miapuesta', while 'vcbet.com' refers to 40 Belgian bettors among all the bets placed with it,
1. should it be held that the alleged harm occurred or is liable to occur in Belgium, so that the Belgian courts have jurisdiction to hear the actions relating to that harm because the websites in question are directed, inter alia, at the Belgian public?
2. or should it be held that the alleged harm occurred or is liable to occur in Belgium, so that Belgian courts have jurisdiction to hear the actions relating to that harm, only if the existence of a sufficient, substantial or meaningful connection between the tortious events pleaded and Belgian territory is established?
3. if so, what are the relevant criteria to be taken into consideration in assessing whether such a connecting factor exists?
____________
1 - OJ 2001, L 12, p.1.
(Case C-584/08)
Language of the case: French
Referring court
Cour d'appel de Liège
Parties to the main proceedings
Appellants: Real Madrid Football Club, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez Blanco, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, Luis Filipe Madeira Caeiro, Futebol Club Do Porto S.A.D., Victor Baia, Ricardo Costa, Diego Ribas da Cunha, P.S.V. N.V., Imari BV, Juventus Football Club SPA
Respondents: Sporting Exchange Ltd, William Hill Credit Limited, Victor Chandler (International) Ltd, BWIN International Ltd (Betandwin), Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming Ltd, Ladbroke Belgium S.A., Internet Opportunity Entertainment Ltd, Global Entertainment Ltd (Unibet)
Questions referred
The questions relate to the interpretation to be given, in the specific field of the internet, to Article 5(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. 1
Where, as in the present case, the alleged harm is caused by websites and
(a) none of the companies being sued, which run the websites in question, has its company seat in Belgium,
(b) none of the websites in question is hosted in Belgium,
(c) none of the claimants is domiciled in Belgium,
(d) the betting websites are available to Belgian internet users, who can place their bets on those sites, to the same extent as they are available to internet users in other contracting States since they are '.com' websites which have the purpose of extending their market to the whole of Europe, and they do not have the extension '.be' which is specific to Belgium,
(e) those websites are available in a number of languages without the two most commonly used languages in Belgium always being among them,
(f) those websites offer, inter alia, bets on Belgian matches, in the same way as for foreign championships,
(g) the use of a particular technology or canvassing technique aimed at the Belgian public has not been proved,
(h) the number of bets placed by the Belgian public is entirely marginal in comparison with the total number of bets taken by those sites, since, according to the figures submitted by the bookmaking companies for 2005, which were not disputed, all the Belgian betting on football matches represents less than 0.25% of the bets taken on the websites 'bwin.com', 'willhill.com', 'betfair.com', 'ladbrokes.com', 'sportingbet', and 'miapuesta', while 'vcbet.com' refers to 40 Belgian bettors among all the bets placed with it,
1. should it be held that the alleged harm occurred or is liable to occur in Belgium, so that the Belgian courts have jurisdiction to hear the actions relating to that harm because the websites in question are directed, inter alia, at the Belgian public?
2. or should it be held that the alleged harm occurred or is liable to occur in Belgium, so that Belgian courts have jurisdiction to hear the actions relating to that harm, only if the existence of a sufficient, substantial or meaningful connection between the tortious events pleaded and Belgian territory is established?
3. if so, what are the relevant criteria to be taken into consideration in assessing whether such a connecting factor exists?
____________
1 - OJ 2001, L 12, p.1.
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