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Industry News - December 2006
Italian Licences Awarded
29/12/2006: Italian licences have been awarded. Lottomatica Italy obtained 1,144 sports betting rights, 500 horse race betting rights and nearly 50 percent of the sports betting available for the corner shops in the main Italian towns. Gala Coral obtained 403 licenses. Ladbrokes was awarded 33 dedicated horseracing licenses, 58 dedicated sports betting licenses and 51 non-dedicated sports betting licenses. William Hill obtained 100 licenses.
CEC to leave Italy alone
14/12/2006: There is an indication that the CEC is going to leave Italy alone, in terms of infringement proceedings, to see how the ‘partial liberalisation’ works. The Commission has already postponed giving its reasoned opinion and the next likely date for this will be March 2007.
Fifteen Minister Presidents Vote for State Lottery Treaty
13/12/2006: Fifteen of the sixteen Minister Presidents voted in favour of the State Lottery Treaty. This is despite severe criticism from interest groups and the media in the days leading up to the vote. Only the Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein rejected the treaty. The decision of the other states does not affect Schleswig-Holstein and does not overrule the legislation of the state. This implies that Schleswig-Holstein will be the only state attempting a liberalised market model.
Commission May Delay Decision to Proceed with Infringement Cases
01/12/2006: There are strong indications that the Commission will delay its decision to proceed with the 7 initial infringement cases. The main reason given by the Commission is that the Legal Services of the Commission need more time to analyse the information they have received in order to build solid cases only. This means that there will not be any reasoned opinion released on the German infringement case on the 12th. This could impact the vote on the State Lottery Treaty on the 13th December.
Schleswig-Holstein Resolution
01/12/2006: The Schleswig-Holstein parliament have passed a resolution to postpone the signing of the new State Lottery Treaty, and asked the Prime Minister to argue for the postponement.
Svenska Spel Expands Poker Site Availability
01/12/2006: The Swedish Government’s online gambling monopoly, Svenska Spel, has expanded its poker site availability to 24 hours. A spokesman said that this would provide a safer gambling setting for Swedish ‘pokerheads’. The poker site will also introduce mandatory five minute ‘toilet breaks’ every half hour to give gamblers an opportunity to pause and reflect on their play. Svenska Spel management believe that the Swedish site is much safer for gamblers than other sites due to the stringent regulations enforced to guard against problem and under-aged gambling.
