turns down German gaming constraints
bet9ja.com
8 September 2010

German betting constraints breach European Union law, the EU's highest court has actually ruled.
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated German laws that protect state monopolies for gambling were "unjustifiable".
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The ruling could break the ice for foreign betting companies to develop an existence in Germany.
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A lobby group representing betting firms, consisting of PartyGaming and Bwin, called the judgement a "landmark".

German authorities have actually justified betting monopolies by stating that they help safeguard customers from the unfavorable impacts of gambling.

But the ECJ said this promotion code was inconsistent with Germany's yohaig promotion code and "intensive advertising" of its gambling operations.
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the yohaig code court said: "The German rules on sporting bets constitute a limitation on the flexibility to provide services and the freedom of facility.

"The general public monopoly of the organisation of sporting bets and lottery games in Germany does not pursue the objective of combating the threats of gaming in a constant and organized manner."

Several foreign betting companies, including Britain's Happy Bet and Gibraltar's Digibet, brought a case against German regional authorities in Hesse and northern Schleswig-Holstein.
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The European Gaming and Betting Association invited the judgment.
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"this promotion code is a landmark judgment which will have a definitive influence on the much-needed reform in Germany," it said in a statement.

"Other member states have opened or are opening their markets. They show that customers can be better secured in a market that is both regulated and available to competitors," it said.

However, European Lotteries, a lobby group for national lotteries in 40 nations, challenged whether the ruling would open the German market.

"On the contrary," the group said in a statement, "the court reminded Germany that it has to manage more strictly the deal of hazardous kinds of gambling such as gambling establishment video games and gaming machines.

"The court pointed once again to the higher risks associated with web gambling."

EGBA

European Lotteries
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