RGA warns of Greek legal action
Lobby group writes to Greek officials to set out potential legal action should government continue with plans to permit egaming monopoly to OPAP.
Lobby group writes to Greek officials to set out potential legal action should government continue with plans to permit egaming monopoly to OPAP.
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has warned Greek officials of the legal action it will take if the government does not amend its proposed gambling regime to be compliant with both EU and domestic Greek law.
In a letter to the Greek President, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the RGA reaffirms its concerns that the Greek government is contravening EU laws with its plans to grant offline gambling monopoly OPAP with the exclusive rights to provide egaming products.
The Greek ministry of finance submitted a bill in December which would see OPAP maintain a monopoly across all online betting until 2020, contradicting the its regulator’s plans to begin a limited licensing process. The amendment to Greek law 4002/2011 would cancel the interim licences of the 24 operators that paid taxes to the regulator in order to continue operating until the official licensing process began.
The RGA claimed the amended would be a “direct contravention of existing European and Greek legislation”, adding that the Greek State could be called on to compensate private sector online gambling companies for losses suffered as a result of “their unlawful exclusion from the market after the government withdrew the planned licensing regime”.
It claims the major operators it represents would have “no choice” but to take their challenge to the Greek courts. This could include a competition law complaint to the European Commission focussing on a potential market abuse which could arise from OPAP having been awarded a dominant position in the online sports betting market, it said.
Clive Hawkswood, CEO of the RGA, said: “We want to work with the Greek Government to ensure that the new regime provides a regulated and competitive, domestic online gambling market that protects the consumer, is viable for the industry, delivers additional tax revenues, and is fully compliant with EU law.
“However, if the Greek Government and Gaming Commission continue without any legitimate justification to block major European private operators from the online market, then those operators will have no choice but to consider challenging them further in the courts.”
The RGA has already lodged an injunction in the Greek courts in an attempt to prevent the government from enforcing financial and potentially also criminal charges on operators that have opted to remain in the country without paying tax.
Last month saw William Hill withdraw from the Greek market which it considers “inconsistent with European law” and “economically unattractive” in its current guise, while Betfair exited the market for similar reasons in November.