The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), a group founded to
further the interests of the online gambling community in Europe, came out
strongly against the recent ECJ ruling that the Portuguese gambling monopoly be
allowed to continue.
EGBA, which represents groups such as Party Gaming, bwin and Unibet, said
that the ruling went against current trends in the world, where countries were
seeking to legalize and regulate their industries to promote healthy competition
within a secure framework.
The group pointed to a number of countries on the European continents and the
UK that have managed to merge high standards of protection with a quality gaming
environment.
"Several jurisdictions in the EU already prove that it is possible to
guarantee a high level of consumer protection and have a well regulated and
competitive online gaming market at the same time," said Sigrid Ligne, the
Secretary General of EGBA.
The European Court of Justice ruled that the Portuguese charity group, SCM
would be allowed to maintain its monopoly over certain wagering games in the
country as it helped in the war against fraud.
"Today's judgment must also be see in the context of the increasing number of
member states that are now in the process of rethinking and redrafting their
gaming legislation," said Ligne. "As has been obvious for all other consumer
markets before, none of the member states currently drafting legislation has
chosen a monopoly model to regulate this modern internet based market."
EGBA pointed out that it was not necessary to have a monopoly over a certain
jurisdiction in order to combat fraud.
