The row between UK betting group Ladbrokes and the Dutch government
over cross border provision of online gambling services is becoming
increasingly bitter and heated, with the betting company now about
to complain to the European Commission after losing an appeal case
in the Netherlands preventing it from accepting bids from Dutch citizens.
Ladbrokes said the Dutch court's decision meant its Internet site,
Ladbrokes.com, must block Dutch gamblers and the state operator had
instigated the legal proceedings to protect its monopoly position,
according to a report in The Scotsman newspaper this week.
"This is protectionism in the extreme ...the state operator
has instigated legal proceedings to protect their monopoly position
and the national courts are supporting them. This is a clear breach
of EU law," Ladbrokes Managing Director eGaming John O'Reilly
claimed.
Ladbrokes said it would attempt to reverse the decision in the Dutch
Supreme Court and will be complaining to EU Commissioner for the Internal
Market, Charlie McCreevy.
Several European states have taken action against gaming companies
in a bid to protect their own gambling operations, but the tactic
looks likely to accelerate the demise of their own monopolies.
McCreevy said in September that eight EU countries might be added
to a list of seven, including Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands,
already facing legal action for refusing to open their betting markets.
Although European law allows cross-border trade by gambling companies
under the Treaty of Rome many individual states prevent it, claiming
they are protecting the public from gambling addiction. However, the
European Court of Justice has said in a ruling that a member state
cannot restrict citizens access to betting services on moral grounds
if it also encourages them to participate in, for example, state lotteries.