by Anton Johan
Greek's gambling laws have long been considered
unfriendly to foreign companies, and newly adopted online gambling
legislation seems to have sealed the nail in the coffin of
non-Greek companies attempting to compete in the market.
This week, two online gaming groups, the European Gaming and
Betting Association (EGBA) and the Remote Gaming Association
(RGA), filed a new complaint with the European Commission,
outlining how the new Greek gambling policy is not compliant with
EU laws.
When the EU first got wind of Greece's new legislation, through a
draft submitted to the Commission earlier this year, it
immediately replied, stating that they were not acceptable to EU
standards.
The RGA and EGBA said in their filed complaint that "a number of
anti competitive and unjustified restrictions remain in the
adopted law."
The gambling bodies' complaint against Greece stated that
these laws placed "unnecessary and unjustified" economic pressures
on new operators in the Greek gambling market, including the fact
that they need to have a permanent establishment in the
Mediterranean country. In addition, foreign operators needed to
limit their financial transactions to Greek banks and credit
groups.
The gambling trade groups also complained about a clause which
calls for all new operators to pay taxes on revenues which were
earned from Greek customers from January 1st, 2010, saying that
this retroactive tax regime was unfair.
New Greek Gambling Laws Criticised
The Chief Executive of the Remote Gaming Association, Clive
Hawkswood said that while he welcomed the opening of the Greek
market as a positive step, it was nevertheless "paramount
that any new regime is conducted in a fair and transparent fashion
which follows EU rules".
"Where a regime is contrary to the provision of the Treaties,
challenges are unfortunately necessary and avoidable," he said.
"We therefore look to the Commission, as guardian of the Treaties,
to enforce those provisions in relation to gambling, as the
European Parliament has requested."
Adding to the debate was the Secretary General of EGBA, Sigrid
Ligne who said that the Commissioner of the European Parliament,
Barnier, recently confirmed that he would fulfill his
responsibilities in assessing the compliance of member states with
gambling legislation.
"Allowing Greece to proceed with this legislation unchallenged
would represent an abject failure of those responsibilities," said
Ligne. "We trust the Commissioner will urgently investigate our
complaint against Greece and take action accordingly."
