25-10-2007 EU MPs call for a legal action against France over arrest of Unibet CEO

Britain's Christopher Heaton-Harris and Sweden's Christofer Fjellner told Reuters that by arresting the CEO of Unibet Petter Nylander, France abused the European Union's internal market rules on the freedom to provide services.

Heaton-Harris and Fjellner asked the EU Internal Market Commissioner to put pressure on French authorities to secure the immediate release of Mr Nylander and to take concrete measures against the country.

"We find it astonishing the French authorities are using the European Arrest Warrant to protect their own business markets," the two said in a letter to Charlie McCreevy.

In other news, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is due to meet with US officials in a couple of weeks to discuss EU compensation in the WTO case, although Reuters reports that European online gambling firms want the commissioner to push for a repeal of the US online gambling ban.