EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy announced that the EC will take action against those member states which have established discriminatory practices in the betting market.
Malcolm Harbour, MEP and Conservative Internal Market Spokesman, said: “I am pleased that Internal Market Commissioner McCreevy has lost patience with those countries that are applying protectionist and disproportionate restriction.”
“Member States cannot, on the one hand, incite and encourage people to participate in National Lotteries, while at the same time invoking consumer protection as a reason to suppress sports betting. We look to the Commission to take early action to support Internal Market rules.”
The states that are opposing to the opening of their gambling sectors to foreign competitors include Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Hungary.
In separate news, according to an article posted on BoingBoing, the gambling regulation office of the Slovenian Finance Ministry has ordered all local ISPs to block access to gambling sites bwin.com and bet-at-home.com.
Calculators
