BestCraps.com

ECJ Rules Against Austria Casino Monopoly

Posted on September 12th, 2010

News Sponsored by Online Vegas Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

The highest court in Europe, the European Court of Justice, which has the member countries of the European Union under its jurisdiction, has already released a ruling in the matter of the Engelmann case. The court found that the requirements set by the legislature of Austria in order for an operator of a casino to have a corporate seat in the country, is restrictive in the companies’ freedom of establishment. Furthermore, the court claimed that the casino licenses issued to Casinos Austria, all 12 of them, did not undergo a tendering process that would be described as transparent or fair.

The central European country has already done some alterations to its laws on gambling in June of this year by starting three new licenses for casinos and giving companies based outside the country the opportunity to compete for these licenses. However, the ECJ still ruled the way they did, which prompted lawyers in Austria to think that the ruling shows that portions of the Glückspielgesetz, which has already been amended still break some laws of the European Union,. The European Court of Justice only issued the ruling on Thursday, and they found that the granting of all 12 casino licenses to Casinos Austria in the absence of an apparent tendering process is still in violation of the law the country itself amended. Furthermore, the process only showed that the casino companies from other European countries who were also interested in the licenses did not really have a real chance in securing the licenses and being given equal treatment in the first place.

Moreover, the court’s ruling also criticized some items in Austrian law that have already been amended, but apparently have still been in place with the recent actions of the government. The ECJ said that the item that requires companies to have a corporate seat in the country so that they can be granted a concession for a casino was an unfair manner of dealing with crimes related to gambling. A specialist in the topic of Austrian gaming Arthur Stadler, who also represented Engelmann in the front of the ECJ, did admit that despite the amendments in the Glückspielgesetz, the law still apparently requires that for a casino bidder in Austria to be successful, it would still need to establish a corporate seat in the country. The ECJ ruling opines that this obligation may eventually put off companies based in other countries of the European Union to apply for a license, since the costs for the establishment and installation of the casino, in addition to these corporate seat requirements, would just not be appealing in terms of profits and business.

Stadler remarked, “The condition for successful casino license applicants to set up a company in Austria is still not compliant with European law, and so it will not be applicable to future license holders.” Moreover, he also said that the 12 licenses that have been issued to Casinos Austria before the laws were amended, and therefore underwent a previous tendering process, should not be valid anymore. Instead, they should undergo a new awarding process. Meanwhile, Sigrid Ligné, the secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, a lobbying group, said, “The whole tendering procedure was bashed by the European court today.” She voiced her approval and the need to implement a new tender already, which in turn should end the current monopoly of Casino Austria.

However, the deputy chief executive of Austrian Lotteries, Friedrich Stickler, claims that he does not really see any changes to the Austrian casino landscape even with the ECJ decision. He adds that the Austrian casino market would not really undergo big changes since the county believes that the issues that the ruling mentioned have already been addressed in the amendments the country has introduced in 2008 and in June this year. He says the decision was for an old case already and addresses the situation in Austria specifically.

The ECJ decision was cause for a celebration with internet gaming associations and offshore gaming operations like the Remote Gambling Association, pointing out that the Engelmann ruling is proof that the European Union will not tolerate protectionist measures done for the sake of local gaming companies.