Six European Union countries face legal action later this month by the European Commission for maintaining bans on gambling while permitting their citizens to wager in their national lotteries.
The European Union's internal market commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said he wanted to take action against Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Holland and Hungary for restricting the advertising and promotion of gambling services like booking shops, which run bets on sporting events, as well as on the gambling services themselves. "We should proceed against all these countries," McCreevy said Friday.
National governments have become addicted to the revenue that their national lotteries bring in. As Europeans spend more on lottery tickets, and as governments find it harder to finance public spending through orthodox means like taxation, they have frustrated efforts to create a more level playing field for competition in the gambling and lottery business. The European Commission has tried several times to break down what amount to monopolies on gambling that are held by national lotteries but its efforts have been thwarted by the member states.
Most recently, the commission tried to include gambling in its controversial and wide-ranging services directive, but members of the European Parliament threw out the clause on gambling.
"The official reason for opposing other forms of gambling is out of social concern, but the real reason they want to restrict other gambling outlets is because they don't want to lose the contributions to state coffers they get from their national lotteries," said Torbjorn Ihre, head of public affairs at the Brussels- based European Betting Association.
The Swedish lottery generates about €2.7 billion, or $3.2 billion, in annual revenue, according to Ihre, who is Swedish. "A fifth of that is profit, and most of it goes into the state budget," he said. A Swedish government official was unavailable to comment. In <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice:smarttags" /><st1
lace w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Hungary</st1:country-region></st1lace>, where per capita income is lower, the state lottery is expected to generate €52 million this year, 20 percent more than last year, according to the European Lotteries and Toto Association Web site.
Governments claim that by limiting betting to national lotteries - or totos, as they are sometimes called - they can control gambling abuse by minors and by money launderers, Ihre said.
But that argument may not help the six countries facing legal action if they end up in court. The European Court of Justice in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Luxembourg</st1lace></st1:country-region> has ruled that social concern is a legitimate reason for countries to ban gambling, but not when they have a national lottery.
Still, given the sensitivity of the issue, McCreevy sounded uncertain of the outcome of any confrontation over gambling. "Let's get to court," he said. "If we are ruled against, then so be it, but let's get on with it."
BRUSSELS Six European Union countries face legal action later this month by the European Commission for maintaining bans on gambling while permitting their citizens to wager in their national lotteries.
The European Union's internal market commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said he wanted to take action against Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Holland and Hungary for restricting the advertising and promotion of gambling services like booking shops, which run bets on sporting events, as well as on the gambling services themselves. "We should proceed against all these countries," McCreevy said Friday.
National governments have become addicted to the revenue that their national lotteries bring in. As Europeans spend more on lottery tickets, and as governments find it harder to finance public spending through orthodox means like taxation, they have frustrated efforts to create a more level playing field for competition in the gambling and lottery business. The European Commission has tried several times to break down what amount to monopolies on gambling that are held by national lotteries but its efforts have been thwarted by the member states.
Most recently, the commission tried to include gambling in its controversial and wide-ranging services directive, but members of the European Parliament threw out the clause on gambling.
"The official reason for opposing other forms of gambling is out of social concern, but the real reason they want to restrict other gambling outlets is because they don't want to lose the contributions to state coffers they get from their national lotteries," said Torbjorn Ihre, head of public affairs at the Brussels- based European Betting Association.
The Swedish lottery generates about €2.7 billion, or $3.2 billion, in annual revenue, according to Ihre, who is Swedish. "A fifth of that is profit, and most of it goes into the state budget," he said. A Swedish government official was unavailable to comment. In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Hungary</st1lace></st1:country-region>, where per capita income is lower, the state lottery is expected to generate €52 million this year, 20 percent more than last year, according to the European Lotteries and Toto Association Web site.
Governments claim that by limiting betting to national lotteries - or totos, as they are sometimes called - they can control gambling abuse by minors and by money launderers, Ihre said.
But that argument may not help the six countries facing legal action if they end up in court. The European Court of Justice in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Luxembourg</st1lace></st1:country-region> has ruled that social concern is a legitimate reason for countries to ban gambling, but not when they have a national lottery.
Still, given the sensitivity of the issue, McCreevy sounded uncertain of the outcome of any confrontation over gambling. "Let's get to court," he said. "If we are ruled against, then so be it, but let's get on with it."
By Paul Meller The New York Times
The European Union's internal market commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said he wanted to take action against Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Holland and Hungary for restricting the advertising and promotion of gambling services like booking shops, which run bets on sporting events, as well as on the gambling services themselves. "We should proceed against all these countries," McCreevy said Friday.
National governments have become addicted to the revenue that their national lotteries bring in. As Europeans spend more on lottery tickets, and as governments find it harder to finance public spending through orthodox means like taxation, they have frustrated efforts to create a more level playing field for competition in the gambling and lottery business. The European Commission has tried several times to break down what amount to monopolies on gambling that are held by national lotteries but its efforts have been thwarted by the member states.
Most recently, the commission tried to include gambling in its controversial and wide-ranging services directive, but members of the European Parliament threw out the clause on gambling.
"The official reason for opposing other forms of gambling is out of social concern, but the real reason they want to restrict other gambling outlets is because they don't want to lose the contributions to state coffers they get from their national lotteries," said Torbjorn Ihre, head of public affairs at the Brussels- based European Betting Association.
The Swedish lottery generates about €2.7 billion, or $3.2 billion, in annual revenue, according to Ihre, who is Swedish. "A fifth of that is profit, and most of it goes into the state budget," he said. A Swedish government official was unavailable to comment. In <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Hungary</st1:country-region></st1lace>, where per capita income is lower, the state lottery is expected to generate €52 million this year, 20 percent more than last year, according to the European Lotteries and Toto Association Web site.Governments claim that by limiting betting to national lotteries - or totos, as they are sometimes called - they can control gambling abuse by minors and by money launderers, Ihre said.
But that argument may not help the six countries facing legal action if they end up in court. The European Court of Justice in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">Luxembourg</st1lace></st1:country-region> has ruled that social concern is a legitimate reason for countries to ban gambling, but not when they have a national lottery.Still, given the sensitivity of the issue, McCreevy sounded uncertain of the outcome of any confrontation over gambling. "Let's get to court," he said. "If we are ruled against, then so be it, but let's get on with it."
BRUSSELS Six European Union countries face legal action later this month by the European Commission for maintaining bans on gambling while permitting their citizens to wager in their national lotteries.
The European Union's internal market commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said he wanted to take action against Germany, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Holland and Hungary for restricting the advertising and promotion of gambling services like booking shops, which run bets on sporting events, as well as on the gambling services themselves. "We should proceed against all these countries," McCreevy said Friday.
National governments have become addicted to the revenue that their national lotteries bring in. As Europeans spend more on lottery tickets, and as governments find it harder to finance public spending through orthodox means like taxation, they have frustrated efforts to create a more level playing field for competition in the gambling and lottery business. The European Commission has tried several times to break down what amount to monopolies on gambling that are held by national lotteries but its efforts have been thwarted by the member states.
Most recently, the commission tried to include gambling in its controversial and wide-ranging services directive, but members of the European Parliament threw out the clause on gambling.
"The official reason for opposing other forms of gambling is out of social concern, but the real reason they want to restrict other gambling outlets is because they don't want to lose the contributions to state coffers they get from their national lotteries," said Torbjorn Ihre, head of public affairs at the Brussels- based European Betting Association.
The Swedish lottery generates about €2.7 billion, or $3.2 billion, in annual revenue, according to Ihre, who is Swedish. "A fifth of that is profit, and most of it goes into the state budget," he said. A Swedish government official was unavailable to comment. In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">Hungary</st1lace></st1:country-region>, where per capita income is lower, the state lottery is expected to generate €52 million this year, 20 percent more than last year, according to the European Lotteries and Toto Association Web site.Governments claim that by limiting betting to national lotteries - or totos, as they are sometimes called - they can control gambling abuse by minors and by money launderers, Ihre said.
But that argument may not help the six countries facing legal action if they end up in court. The European Court of Justice in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">Luxembourg</st1lace></st1:country-region> has ruled that social concern is a legitimate reason for countries to ban gambling, but not when they have a national lottery.Still, given the sensitivity of the issue, McCreevy sounded uncertain of the outcome of any confrontation over gambling. "Let's get to court," he said. "If we are ruled against, then so be it, but let's get on with it."
By Paul Meller The New York Times
