Sweden’s Online Poker Battle
Feb 16 at 5:05pm by Mike
The Swedish Supreme Court has just ordered the Court of Appeal to test the compatibility of the country’s lottery law with existing European law.
Two of Sweden’s biggest daily newspapers, Aftonbladet and Expressen have been battling for years to overturn a District Court ruling which bars them from accepting foreign gaming advertisements.
The ruling by the Supreme Court means that the Court of Appeal must now hear the case against the newspapers, that last month published an open letter to the E.U. Internal Market’s Commissioner Charlie McCreevy insisting that he act against the Swedish authorities over the advertising ban which they claim breaches Articles 12, 43, and 49 of the EC treaty.
This move also came after the European Commission recently instigated proceedings against the state-run Swedish poker monopoly Svenska Spel which continues to exclude E.U. licensed poker companies from operating in the country despite doing so itself.
Proceedings are already under way against Sweden for its position on sports betting and now poker is being formally targeted.
The authorities will now have two months to show that their rules are compatible with EU law.
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