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Contextualizing EU Laws

The Dutch Supreme Courts have acknowledged that the ongoing online casino gambling issue is beyond their judgment. The Dutch Supreme Court was tasked with making a judgment on the ongoing Ladbrokes case. Ladbrokes was forced out of the Dutch internet gambling market by the state-run monopoly. Protectionist policy in the Netherlands has specifically targeted foreign online casinos and betting companies, which the European Commission and many industry analysts contend flies directly in the face of EU free-trade policies. The Ladbrokes versus De Lotto case will now make it to the European Court of Justice for a final ruling.

The outcome of the case could severely alter the current political climate surrounding the internet gambling debate. Nearly a dozen EU member-states operate an online casino gambling monopoly of some sort, and a ECJ ruling in favor of Ladbrokes could persuade countries like France, Sweden, and Germany to begin drafting more inclusive regulations. The threat of ECJ action from the Gambling Commission has already swayed Greece, Italy, and a few other countries to begin negotiations with the Commission concerning policies that would affect foreign online casinos.

The Dutch Supreme Court outlined several areas of concern that the ECJ should address when it considers the case. One of the prominent questions that the online casinos industry is anticipating centers on the right of a state-run gambling monopoly to have measures in place that block a citizen’s access to foreign gambling sites. This is how De Lotto is blocking Ladbrokes from the market, by taking Ladbrokes to Dutch courts which then forced Ladbrokes to stop processing bets from the Netherlands.