EU Moves Toward Ruling On German Gambling Law

17th January

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, a spokesman for the commission in Brussels said Tuesday.

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 law sets Germany apart from other European Union countries, some of which have been moving to open state-run betting monopolies to private competitors, and moves it closer to the United States, where the Bush administration has tried to stamp out online gambling.

The European Gaming & Betting Association, a trade organization based in Brussels, on Tuesday 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 Tuesday that the commission would decide, perhaps by the end of the month, whether to take such action.

The commission has started legal proceedings against 10 European countries, including Germany, over their policies on online gambling. Several, including Italy and France, have recently moved to open the gambling sector to private competition, following the lead of Britain, which has already passed legislation allowing online gambling companies to set up shop there.