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Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:33 PM BST140
BRUSSELS, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Italy was wrong to renew 329 horse race betting licences without a public tender, the European Union's top court ruled on Thursday.
The ruling will be seen as a modest victory for the privately owned betting industry as it seeks to compete more freely across the EU.
The Italian government decided in 1999 to increase the number of betting centres in Italy from 329 to 1,000, with only the new concessions put out to tender with the existing ones renewed for six years. The European Court of Justice said in a statement that "by renewing 329 licences for horse race betting operations without inviting any competing bids, the Italian Republic failed to fulfil its obligations".
Italy "in particular, infringed the general principle of transparency and the obligation to ensure a sufficient degree of advertising", the court said.
The European Gaming and Betting Association, which groups leading gambling operators, said the ruling marked an important step towards a regulated European gaming and betting market.
"The court's decision sends a clear signal to member states currently offering, or planning to offer, licences to European gaming and betting operators," Sigrid Ligne, the association's secretary general, said in a statement.
"The court's decision also underlines that these licences cannot be awarded without a transparent, competitive and fair tendering procedure," Ligne said.
Italy was backed in the case by Spain and Denmark.
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发表于 2007-9-14 20:52
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