Online Casino, casinos

The European court of justice has decided to let the member states decide for themselves on the selection of online cash game operators.

The minister for the budget, Eric Woerth, declared that the European judgement, by recognising as legitimate Portugal's refusal to allow a foreign company offer online games of chance in the country, “backed up” the proposed French law.

Relief of the French government

According to Eric Woerth, the European court of justice has shown in this way that “ a state is justified in forbidding an operator, authorised in another state, to offer games on its territory, if it hasn't given the permission itself”. “By indicating that the prohibition placed by the Portuguese reglementation on operators who are not authorised in this country to offer games of chance on the internet could be considered to be compatible with freedom of services, the Court considers that there isn't grounds to have an assumption of mutual recognition (between countries, editor's note) in the area of cash games on the internet”, he pointed out. For the minister, “ this decision backs up the  structure of the proposed French law relating to the opening up to competition and the reglementation of the cash and chance gaming sectors online”.

The text, which will be debated by the deputies on the 7th and 8th of October, aims to “supervise the massive development of games offered on the internet”. It states that “ only operators who have obtained a licence from the French authorities will be permitted to offer games on the internet”. The aim is to be better able to “fight against money laundering, to protect players from addiction, to fight against minors gambling and to guarantee the ethics of sports competitions”.

“With regard to the particularities linked to the offering of games of chance on the internet, the Court considers that the prohibition on operators such as Bwin to offer games of chance on the internet can be considered to be justified through the objective of the fight against fraud and crime and therefore compatible with the principle of the free provision of services”, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) points out in a press release.

A Portuguese conflict which has become european

The Portuguese case was brought before the European Court of Justice by the penal court of Porto following an appeal by the commercial online gaming company Bwin, established in Gibraltar, and the Portuguese professional football league. Both of these contested the fines of 74,500 and 75,000 given to them respectively for having offered games of chance on the internet and for having advertised these games.

The Portuguese legislation has given the national lottery, the Santa Casa da Misericordia,  the exclusive right to organise and run lotteries, lottery games and sport betting on the internet in the country. It forbids operators such as Bwin, established in other member states, where they legally provide similar services, from offering games of chance on the internet on Portuguese territory. The penal court of Porto questioned the compatibility of the Portuguese reglementation with the European principles of free movement. But, outlined the court “restrictions to the free provision of services can be justified by important reasons in the general interest”.