Issues with European Competition Law

EU legislation is trying to create a fair competitive environment in accordance with EU competition law, but the European Commission and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are finding it difficult to safeguard them in the face of individual Member States' gaming regulations.

This is due to inconsistencies in the liberalization of local gaming markets and freeing them from their state-licensed gambling monopolies.

The concerns are mainly around three key issues:

1. The introduction of IP rights for sports bodies may be interpret as a form of state aid that can be considered as a breach of EU competition law and state aid legislation.

2. Any Member State that uses licensing or other means to liberalize their gaming markets will still be affected by the remaining gambling monopolies as they will sustain a greater dominance in the market that can bread anti-competitive actions.

3. Different taxing laws for online and offline gambling may result in anti-competition claims from either the online or offline sectors, depending on who is discriminated against.

Overall the future looks very unclear for both Member States and the European Commission as they tread the murky water of EU Legislation.