Ladbrokes goes to court against the Norwegian government
November 11, 2008 by mbates
Ladbrokes has today appealed against the rejection of its application for a betting license to allow it to trade in Norway; it was originally turned down in October 2004. The refusal had led Ladbrokes to initiate legal proceeds against Norway citing it was a breach of EC directives and the EFTA agreement.
John O’Reilly Ladbrokes’ Managing Director of Remote Betting and Gaming said “We are appealing the judgment because the court’s assessment of the evidence doesn’t relate directly to our case. Vital aspects in the EFTA-law court judgment of May 2007 have not been taken into consideration, and the judgment is solely built on the national “slot machine case” of March 2007 which is not relevant to our application. The monopoly laws in Norway conflict with the EU Treaty, particularly with regard to the principles of freedom of establishment and the free movement of services. We continue to challenge for our right to be regulated in Norway and to provide free and fair competition to the monopoly.”
The difficulty that Ladbrokes is having with the Norwegian government concerning gambling monopolies in an EC country has also been mirrored by the recent troubles StanleyBet has had with the Greek Government and OPAP.
