EU member states that continue to deny foreign betting and gaming companies access to their domestic markets will be taken to the European Court of Justice.
Attending a European Policy Centre event in Brussels, Charlie McCreevy, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said: ‘We have a dialogue going on with some member states… but for those where we cannot reach agreement we will proceed to the European Court of Justice.’
In related news, the European Commission has formally asked Italy to comply with an ECJ ruling made in September 2007 requiring the Italian authorities to award concessions for horse-betting services via a competitive bid process.
The commission said the measure hasn’t been adopted and that illegally-awarded concessions are still in place. The ECJ will be asked to impose fines if the Italian authorities continue to ignore the ruling.
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