European Commission continues pursuit of unlawful Italian national restrictions
Feb 20, 2009
- Brussels
Stanleybet International welcomes the formal request from the Commission for Italy to comply with the judgement of the European Court of Justice on 13th September 2007 in case C-260/04 which condemned the renewal of 329 concessions for horse-racing betting without a tender procedure.
The European Commission has formally requested the Italian Government to comply with the 13 September 2007 ECJ judgement concerning the awarding of concessions for horse racing betting. The judgement, in Case C-260/04, ruled that, by renewing 329 concessions for horse racing betting operations without inviting competing bids, the Italian Republic had failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty Articles 43 (right of establishment) and 49 (free movement of services). It highlighted that the renewals breached the principles of non-discrimination, proportionality and transparency and the obligation to ensure a sufficient degree of advertising.
This ECJ ruling came after infringement procedures which the European Commission launched after investigating a complaint lodged by Stanleybet International in 1999.
Following a Letter of Formal Notice on 3 April 2008, the Commission has sent a Reasoned Opinion to Italy because it believes that the measures so far enacted by Italy are not sufficient to comply with the ECJ ruling. Although the Italian government has announced that it will issue up to 3,000 new licences, the proposed measures still contain discriminatory conditions and have a ridiculously low minimum financial commitment. Considering the crisis in the horse racing betting sector, nobody expects a majority of the 3,000 licences to be awarded and additionally considering the minimum financial commitment this is a farcical tender which is just a way to re-award the 329 licences at minimum cost.
This decision demonstrates the Commission’s commitment not to allow the measures proposed by Italy to circumvent EU law and to force Italy to build a truly competitive market. The next stage in the procedure is an ECJ Court case that could result in the ECJ imposing a daily fine.
John Whittaker, Managing Director of Stanleybet International, declares:
“We applaud the resolve of the European Commission in continuing to ensure that the rules of the EU Treaty, as consistently interpreted by the European Court of Justice, are fully and correctly applied by the Member States.”
“The Commission's decision demonstrates its determination to remove once and for all the illegality in the Italian concession system. We welcome this.”
“The Italian authorities have no choice but to open up their gambling market to competition. However, they keep on dragging their feet. Substantial problems remain and the Commission has confirmed that this is simply not acceptable.”
“We intend to appeal against this farcical tender which has been created to protect the incumbents and to by-pass the ruling of the ECJ and the European Commission’s obligation to uphold the Treaty”
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Contact:
campaign@fairplayforsportsbetting.eu
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